Effect of Artemisia vulgaris L. Aqueous Extract on Some Germination Properties and Seedling Growth of Wheat

A laboratory experiment was carried out during the winter season of 2021 in the Seed Technology Laboratory - College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences / University of Baghdad to find out the allopathic effects of aerobic and terrestrial aqueous extracts of artemisia on the seed germination and seedling growth of wheat. A factorial experiment according to a completely randomized design (C.R.D.)at three replicates was used; the first factor included the type of aqueous extract for plant parts, which were aerobic (stems and leaves) and terrestrial (root and rhizomes), while the second factor included five concentrations for each aqueous extract of plant part (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%). The results showed a significant effect of aqueous extract types on the studied traits; the terrestrial aqueous extract gave the highest germination percentage (70.00%) and radicle dry weight (0.0487 g). Also, the concentration of 50% of artemisia aqueous extract was significantly superior and achieved the highest germination percentage (80.00%) and shoot dry weight (0.0500 g). In contrast, the concentration of 25% was significantly superior in the shoot length (7.47 cm) and radicle dry weight (0.0567 g), while the concentration of 75% was significantly superior in the radicle length (4.17 cm). The interaction between the two factors significantly affected the radicle length and dry weight only. Keywords: Artemisia, weed, allopathic effects, phenolic compound