Abstract:
Difficulty on germination of local cardamom (Amomum cardamomum Willd) is caused
by the hard seed coat leading to dormant period. Breaking dormancy in hard seed coats
can be done by chemical scarification, one of which is using sulfuric acid. This study
aimed to determine the effect of sulfuric acid concentration and soaking time on local
cardamom germination and to determine the effective concentration of sulfuric acid and
soaking time to increase the germination of local cardamom. This study used a factorial
completely randomized design with two factors i.e. concentration of sulfate acid with 6
levels (0%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% and 100%) and soaking time with 4 levels (5 minute,
10 minute, 15 minute and 20 minutes). Variables observed were germination
percentage, germination time and vigor index. The results showed that the combination
of 60% sulfuric acid treatment for 15 minutes resulted in the highest germination
percentage of 62.50% with a germination time of 29.10 days and vigor index of 1.36
seeds germinated/week.
