The impact of film coating on initial water uptake and imbibitional chilling injury in high and low vigor sh2 sweet corn seeds

Film coating did not significantly affects germination in high and low vigor sh2 seeds in stressed or non-stressed germination environments. Fungicide treatment with or without film coating was effective in improving seedling emergence only in the low vigor cultivar, irrespective of germination temperature. Initial imbibition rates of both untreated and film coated seeds increased for both genotypes as germination temperature increased from 10 to 25°C. At 20 and 25°C, imbibition rate was higher in low vigor seeds. Initial water uptake was higher in film-coated seeds compared to untreated seeds for both genotypes and overall imbibition rates were higher for film-coated seeds at 25°C. The pattern of water uptake in seeds from sh2 and se sweet corn genotypes differed from that of dent corn. In dent corn, the embryo was fully hydrated before the entire endosperm was wetted. In contrast, sweet corn endosperm was fully hydrated before the embryo.