Forest species with hard seeds often pose considerable problems to nursery managers because their hard and water impermeable seed coats hinder and delay germination. Therefore, this work aimed to determine the most efficient, practical and low cost methodology to overcome dormancy in chichá seeds. The seeds were submitted to five treatments: mechanical scarification with sandpaper number 40 for three minutes on both sides of the seed without soaking; mechanical scarification with sandpaper number 40 for three minutes in both sides of the seed with 24-hour soaking; mechanical scarification with sandpaper number 40 for three minutes on one side of the seed without soaking; mechanical scarification with sandpaper number 40 for three minutes on one side of the seed with soaking and control treatment whose seeds had not been scarified (intact seeds). The characteristics evaluated were first count and total germination percentages, emergence speed index and shoot and root dry mass The results allowed to recommend mechanical scarification with sandpaper number 40 on one side of the seed for three minutes followed by soaking in water for 24 hours and mechanical scarification in both sides without soaking to overcome dormancy in chichá seeds.
Forest seeds; germination; dormancy
