Efeitos de diferentes substratos e temperaturas na germinação de sementes de Foeniculum vulgare

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a medicinal plant native to Europe that is widely cultivated throughout Brazil. It has carminative, digestive, and diuretic properties. Given the great importance of this species in medicine, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different substrates and temperature on the germination of fennel seeds. The treatments consisted of two temperatures – one a constant 20°C, and the other alternating from 25 to 30°C – and three different substrates: blotting paper (Germitest), sand, and vermiculite, in a 3 x 2 factorial with four replications of 25 seeds. The germination speed index (GSI), percentage of germination (PG), radicle length, and fresh (FM) and dry mass (DM) of seedlings were evaluated. The 20°C temperature resulted in higher GSI, germination percentage, root length and dry mass. The fennel seed germination was not influenced by the different substrates tested. From the results, we concluded that the condition that allowed greatest percentage of fennel seed germination temperature was 20°C, reaching 91% germination.