Dormancy breaking in Savin juniper (Juniperus sabina L.) seeds

Savin juniper (Juniperus sabina L.) is a relict shrub in Poland with only one natural stand in Pieniny Mts. Seeds require warm followed by cold stratification to overcome dormancy. Application of temperature regime at 20o/3oC layout, for 14 and 17 weeks respectively, is more effective than stratification at 15o/3oC. Interruption of warm stratification phase after 7 weeks and seeds drying at room temperature for 3-days with warm stratification follow-on resulted in increasing of germination capacity from 25% to approximately 45%. Germinated seeds pricked to substrate into containers gave seedlings 3 cm high when cultivated under plastic tunnel in the first vegetation season