Sowing is not usually possible immediately after seed treatment. This work was aimed at determining the effect of the storage of cotton seeds soaked with mepiquat chloride (growth regulator) on physiological quality and maintenance of this effect as a plant regulator. Cotton seeds from cultivar IPR 120 were soaked in solutions with mepiquat chloride in doses of zero (control), 2,5: 5,0 and 10,0 g a.i.kg-1 of seeds for 12 hours and dried in the shade in an aerated place. The evaluation was done through germination at zero, 30, 60, 90 and 180 days after the treatment (DAT). 60 DAT the seedling length was evaluated in paper rolls. Seeds stored for 60 DAT were cultivated in pots and plant height and cotyledonary knot insertion, foliar area and dry mater of leaf and branch were appraised for a period of 24 days after emergence. The experimental design was completely randomized with twenty treatments and four replications, using a random factorial (four doses and five time of storage). There was no emergence capacity and vigor loss up to 60 DAT and the effect of the plant regulator on plant height and cotyledonary knot insertion was maintained. Seeds soaked in mepiquat chloride can be stored for at least 60 days without physiological quality reduction and maintaining the reducing agent effect on plant growth, showing lower growth, even before the emergence, lasting for at least 180 days after treatment.
Gossypium hirsutum L.; growth regulator; seed treatment; persistence on the effect
