Clover Referee Preliminary results on clover planting media WSDA Seed Program Carmela A. Martinez – AOSA Germination/ CVT Certification Hi my name is Carmela Martinez. I am with the Washington State Department of Agriculture and I will be presenting The Clover Referee and Preliminary results on Clover planting media. There is a sign up sheet going around if anyone would like to participate in doing another clover referee??

Agenda Purpose of the Referee Current Methods Procedure for the Original Referee Comparison of Petri Dish vs Towel Methods Damage Caused by Rolled Towel Method Red Clover Media Comparison Graph Invitation to Participate Questions On the agenda we will be covering the

Purpose of the Referee To have P- covered petri dish added to the AOSA rules as an option for planting.

Current Methods Currently in the AOSA handbook the substrata options for clovers are B= between blotters T= paper toweling, used either as folded towel tests or as rolled towel test in horizontal or vertical position S= sand.

Current Methods (continued) ISTA methods already have the option TP= top of paper which states “the seeds are germinated on top of one or more layers of paper which are placed into transparent boxes or petri dishes – directly on trays in germination incubators.” ISTA also has the option BP= between paper. Similar to ISTA, AOSA should be given the option to plant clover varieties in either petri dishes or towels.

Procedure for the Original Referee Pick 8-10 different varieties of clover if possible. Plant each sample twice; once in rolled towels, and once in covered petri dishes with appropriate layers of blotters, filter paper, or paper toweling. When planting in covered petri do not cover seeds with planting media. So this is how we did the

Procedure (continued) Provide adequate moisture to the seeds during the test period. Germinate with light at 20c for 7 days unless otherwise specified by AOSA rules. Take pictures of each samples 1st dish/towel before first preliminary count and before final count. Record germ counts for preliminary and finals for each clover variety and each germination method.

Comparison of Petri Dish vs Towel Methods (Photo altered to remove lab number) Pictured is a

AOSA Rules Vol. 4 p. 68 This picture is from the AOSA Rules vol.4 and shows that a broken hypocotyl is to be counted as abnormal.

Damage Caused by Rolled Towel Method Seedlings found between the crease of the rolled towel method make it harder to distinguish the difference between normal and abnormal seedings. An abnormal seedling could be mistaken for damage due to being rolled in towels. As stated in the AOSA rules vol.4. Seedlings planted in petri dishes make it easier to distinguish the difference between normal and abnormal seedlings.

Red Clover Media Comparison Graph This is a Red Clover Media Comparison Graph. This information was gathered between the three labs that participated in this referee. So as you can see the petri dish and towel methods seem to be within tolerance. Sample number three’s germ that was planted using the petri dish method has a little lower viability percentage than the towel method had this could be due to being able to clearly distinguish the difference between normal and abnormal seedlings.

Red Clover Media Comparison Data Clover Sample # Total viability Petri dish Total viability towel method 1 96 92 2 94 91 3 95 97 4 89 86 5 87 6 90 This is the Data that was used to create the Graph.

Invitation to Participate Because of the damage caused by towels the option to plant in petri dishes should be added to the AOSA rules similar to the ISTA rules. To make this happen we would need your support in planting the samples and gathering the data. If your lab chooses to participate, we will provide three clover varieties for your lab to test using the two substrata methods. We would like share an invitation to participate in a redo of the Clover Referee

Thank you for your time and consideration. Questions? If you would like to participate, there is a sign up sheet available. Thank you for your time and consideration.