Peony seeds were placed in dry containers. Some of the containers were stored at 5°C for either 4,6,8 or 10 weeks. The temperature and time periods were defined as the storage temperature and the storage period, respectively.
The peony seeds were divided evenly so that there were 20 sets of 25 seeds. Twenty petri dishes were then
prepared. Each contained damp paper. Each set of seeds was placed in a separate petri dish. Each petri dish was
maintained at 1 of 4 temperatures for 30 days. The temperature and time periods were defined as the germination
temperature and the germination period, respectively. Table 1 shows the number of seeds that germinated in each
dish.
Table 1
Number of peony seeds that germinated when maintained at a germination temperature of:
Storage period (weeks) 13°C 18°C 23°C 28°C
0
0 0
0
4
0 2
0
6
3 8
6 0
8
7 22 18 0
10
15 24 21 1
In general, the results of Study 1 suggest that peony seeds that are placed in a petri dish containing damp paper are
most likely to germinate when they are maintained at which of the following temperatures?