The Effect of Gibberellic Acid (GA3) Hormone and Soaking Time on the Germination and Growth of Arabica coffee seeds (Coffea arabica L.)

Abstract

Arabica coffee seeds have a long time to germinate and dormancy. Dormancy is caused by the physical state of the seed coat, the physiological state of the embryo or a combination of the two condition. This research aimed to find out the effect of gibberellin (GA3) and immersion time to accelerating the time of the dormancy breaking and viability of arabica coffee seed (Coffee arabica L.). The research was carried out in the Biological Seedling Field, Faculty of Biology University of Medan Area (UMA) start from October to November 2020. The experimental was arranged using randomized block design (RBD), with 2 factors and four replicate. The first factor was four level of GA3 concentration : 0 ppm, 200 ppm, 400 ppm, and 600 ppm. The second factor was four seed imbibition period : 12 hour, 24 hour, 36 hour and 48 hour. The parameter to observed is the potential growth, the time of leaves appear, the hypocotyl length, the number of roots and the root length. The results showed the treatments of combination immersion time and gibberellin have a real impact for the potential growth, the time of leaves appear and the root length.