Abstract: The effect of re-drying of onion seeds after soaking in priming media on seeds germination and seedling emergence was observed in a pot experiment at the Teaching and Research farm of the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. Viable red creole onion seeds were soaked in ascorbic acid, moringa leaf extract (MLE), sodium chloride (NaCl) at two concentrations (12.5 and 25 %) and water for 6 and 12 hours. The soaked onion seeds were removed, washed and re-dried for 0, 24 and 48 hours. Re-dried and non-dried onion seeds were down in pots laid out in a completely randomized design in three replicates. Data were collected on the final emergence percentage (FEP), mean emergence time (MET), emergence index (EI) and time to 50 % emergence (E50) and subjected to analysis of variance. The results showed that priming media, concentrations and soaking durations were significantly different from the control (non-primed seeds) (p < 0.05) but not significant in MET, EI and E50. Onion seeds soaked in an ascorbic acid solution without re-drying gave the highest FEP (74.25 %). Re-dried seeds resulted in lower FEP except in NaCl but were not significantly different. In hydro priming, the longer the drying period the lower the FEP and EI, and the higher the MET and E50. Primed onion seeds were to be sow immediately as re-drying reduces the germination potentials of seeds.
Keywords: Primed onion seeds, priming methods, seedling emergence.