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Yield and Viability of Tobacco Seeds Produced under Heat and Light Reflecting or Absorbing Covers¹

Seeds of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) were produced within cheesecloth bags and variously painted and unpainted wet-strength kraft paper bags. Temperatures within these seed head covers were measured at noon on a typically warm day (30 to 34 C) and also on a relatively cool day (21 to 25 C). A treatment consisting of paper bags that had been painted black markedly reduced yield and germination. Highest temperatures were also encountered in the black bags. Lowest temperatures were measured in the cheesecloth bags from which the highest yield and germination of seeds were obtained. Bags painted silver possessed internal temperatures that were only 1 or 2 degrees higher than those measured under the cheesecloth bags. However, the yield from seed heads covered with bags painted silver was less than half of that obtained from those enclosed with cheesecloth. These data suggested further that light may have a beneficial effect on seed yield.

Key Words: Seed germination • Nicotiana tabacum • Temperature

² Research Geneticist, Plant Science Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Oxford, North Carolina, and Associate Professor, Department of Genetics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N. C.

Received for publication May 5, 1971.