Sexual Propagation

Advantages Disadvantages
-Little work required -genetic segregation. (plants grown from
seed may not be genetically identical to
-Relatively inexpensive the parent plant
-Many seeds from a single plant -Time to mature
-Convenient storage
-Disease free propagation
 Rate of Germination
A measure of the time course of
seed germination. Germination
rate of determined by calculating
the PSG at different time intervals
after planting and plotting those
figures.
 % Seed Germination
An estimate of the viability of a
population of seeds

Rate of Seedling Growth

Seedling growth over a period of time
 Vigor

Signs of good vigor Factors affecting Vigor

-rapid germination -Genetic
-Uniform germination -Environment during maturation
-Good stress tolerance -Seed maturity
-Less susceptible to soil -Harvesting methods
pathogens
-Storage conditions
-Longer storage life
-Germination conditions

Vigor tests generally impose a stress to the

plant
 Viability
Proportion of seeds in a lot that can germinate