Soil Water Movement to Germinating Seeds

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Abstract
Water movement to germinating seeds of several range plants was measured with a gammaray attenuation technique. Seeds were placed at a depth of 1.5 cm in soil at several water contents and the soil water content of thin (3 mm) layers above and below the seeds was measured daily. It was found that the distance from which water was taken up by the seeds did not exceed 1 cm and was not affected by soil water content. Germination was found to be dependent on seed water uptake, which was determined by soil water content. The rate of seedling root growth was not affected by initial soil water content, but shoot growth was strongly affected. Solutions of the water flow equation were applied to the case of spheric geometry and infinite medium and to the case of linear flow and semi-infinite medium, in order to calculate water movement to a germinating seed or to a layer of seeds. Both the calculations and the measurements showed that water uptake by a 2-mm-diameter seed from distances exceeding 1 cm was negligible.

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