Bamboo Wood Vinegar Seed Priming Improves Germination and Early Seedling Growth in Eggplant

This study evaluated the impacts of hydropriming and the use of comparatively lower-concentration wood vinegar solutions on the initial stages of germination and seedling morphology of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). The study was conducted due to a lack of data on precise concentrations of bamboo wood vinegar required to maximize seedling vigor without causing toxicity. The experiment employed a one-factorial design system in Completely Randomized Design (CRD), with 11 treatments consisting of a control (T1), 2 hydropriming durations (12 and 24 hours), and wood vinegar concentrations (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2%), which were diluted in different volumes of water. The outcomes revealed that priming treatments significantly improved germination performance, with percent germination ranging from 94% to 99% compared to the T1 control (94%). The mean germination time (T50) decreased significantly with increasing doses of wood vinegar, from T1 (198.7 hours) to T11 (102.4 hours). The fastest treatment was T11 (102.4 hours), achieving the shortest time compared to the control T1 (198.7 hours). Priming with wood vinegar significantly enhanced plant vigor during early seedling growth. The highest shoot fresh weight (7.60 g and 8.07 g), shoot dry weight (0.27 g and 0.31 g), root fresh weight (2.27 g and 2.37 g), and root dry weight (0.074 g and 0.078 g) were obtained in T6 and T11 at 2% wood vinegar concentration. Although leaf number and color did not show much variation, T6 and T11 showed the largest stem diameter (2.1 cm and 2.2 cm). In general, the study generated various quantitative values that showed seed priming, especially with the use of 2% wood vinegar, a very good and cost-effective way to accelerate germination and improve early seedling growth for better crop performance.