The lengthening frost-free period in the Midwestern United States has led to earlier planting of summer annual crops like soybean and maize. Early planting poses risks of cold temperatures and precipitation, which could affect water uptake patterns and cause imbibitional chilling. This study investigated how moistened rolled paper towel temperature during imbibition (1.7-15.5C), as opposed to full submersion of seeds, affected seed water uptake in commercial soybean cultivars and maize hybrids. Seeds were imbibed for up to 48 hours at temperatures ranging from 1.7-15.5C. The rate of water uptake in soybeans was lowest at 1.7C and was greatest above 12.8C, but the rate of water uptake was unaffected by temperature in maize. Future work should examine how other media types (e.g., solid matrix materials) could influence water uptake dynamics with varied temperature to more closely emulate water uptake in soil after planting. Additional studies should also consider how water temperature (and rate of uptake) during imbibition influences the physiological processes of seed germination and seedling development.
Lindsey et al. (Thu,) studied this question.