Seed Treatment Potential for the Improvement of Lucerne Seed Performance and Early Field Growth

Abstract

Seed treatments have a potential to improve seed performance traits and consequently optimize crop establishment. However, there is a lack of systematic research for these techniques in lucerne, especially under field conditions. The goal of this study was to investigate the potential of various seed treatments on the improvement of lucerne germination and emergence under lab conditions and early seedling growth in the field. Compared treatments were heat treatment; seed priming with water, potassium permanganate, chitosan, vermitea, or bokashi juice; and seed coating with cinnamon, gypsum, wood ash, tannin quebracho, and cocoa powder. Among the seed priming methods, potassium permanganate and chitosan provided the best results in the improvement of seedling length or emergence dynamics, whilst coating with bentonite and gypsum could be recommended for having a positive impact on root development. Cinnamon powder significantly improved the emergence dynamics, seedling, and shoot length. The combination of priming and coating methods seems to be the most effective when assessed under the field conditions, where some positive response in root traits can be evaluated.

1. Introduction

Lucerne, syn. alfalfa, (Medicago sativa L.) is a perennial forage crop of global importance particular in temperate climatic zones. It is usually sown in early spring, commonly with an annual companion crop like oat or barley that is harvested for grain or silage [1]. The successful establishment of lucerne is limited by several factors including the occurrence of drought, diseases [2], and/or competition with the companion crop [3,4]. The lucerne sowing rate in relation to its emergence in the field is considered to be an effective means for optimizing plant spacing management and the subsequent impact on field productivity [5]. Morrow and Hunt [6] reported that a sowing density of 500 to 1000 seeds per square meter is sufficient for clover or lucerne. Hall et al. [7] claimed that increasing the seeding rate above 17 kg·ha⁻¹ brings no measurable long-term benefits on lucerne performance, which is associated with lucerne root development [5]. In addition to the sowing rate, seed quality also has an important effect on subsequent lucerne growth [6,8]. Although lucerne seed emergence and early growth could be improved via variable seed treatments, in most cases, untreated seeds are used, including treatment via seed inoculation with Rhizobia [9].

Among factors that reduce or delay germination and seedling emergence in lucerne, it is the occurrence of “hardseededness” (seed coat impermeability) that has long been recognized as a management issue, and approaches to overcome this limitation were established during the last century using seed scarification [10]. However, this procedure often causes damage to other (non-hard) seeds and thereby often reduces the overall germination rate [11]. In addition to mechanical seed treatment, higher storage temperature has the capacity to increase the germination of lucerne hard seeds [12].

Seed priming is a pre-sowing treatment based on controlled hydration followed by drying to the original moisture content. The procedure leads to earlier and more uniform germination and emergence [13] through changes in enzymatic processes [14,15]. The principles of seed priming were described by Sivasubramaniam et al. [16] with reference to methods including hydro-priming, osmo-priming, nutrient priming, chemical priming, bio-priming, seed priming with plant growth regulators, and priming with liquid plant extracts [13,17,18]. Among them is vermitea, obtained as a liquid phase of vermicompost produced by earthworms Eisenia andreii, Eisenia foetida, or Dendrobaena veneta [19]. Vermitea contains variable macro- and micro-elements [20,21], hormone-like substances [22], and different beneficial microbes [23]. There are several positive reports on the improvement of seed performance, e.g., the increase in Brassica napus seed germination during salt stress [17]. Another priming option could be a Bokashi leachate (syn. Bokashi tea or juice) based on the Bokashi composting method which consists of anaerobic fermentation of organic matter together with the Bokashi mixture (usually wheat or rice bran inoculated with lactic bacteria, yeasts, and small amounts of photosynthetic bacteria, actinomycetes, and other types of organisms) where beneficial microorganisms enrich the substrate and small amounts of liquid leachate are produced [24]. Chitosan, developed via the deacetylation of chitin, is also an option for seed priming with potential to improve the germination rate and decrease the mean germination time with the simultaneous elicitation of the chitinase and glucanase activity which prevents the growth of molds on the surface of plants [25].

Seed coating is another technique for improving seed quality. Three types of coating can be distinguished according to thickness of coating: film coating (dry powder or solution application), seed coating in sensu stricto, and seed pelleting, respectively. Pelleting in particular affects the thousand-seed weight and supplies active substances or stimulants in powder form, liquid, or both, such as stimulants, nutrients, plant protection preparations, hydrophilic compounds, and others that could be combined with adhesive so-called binder, e.g., bentonite or clay. Seed coating is often performed by seed companies; however, it is also possible to apply coatings on farms [26]. Coating can enhance the germination and/or emergence or improve seedling health, fitness, and development of young plants [27], including protection against diseases [28], although some negative effects of coating on seed performance have been reported [26,29,30]. Among coating substances, sulfur is one of the oldest substances recognized for its pesticide properties [31], and it is often deficient in agricultural soils. Scott and Archie [32] reported the positive effect of additional sulfur coatings with inoculated legume seeds on the establishment of legume seeds in the tussock grasslands, thus confirming the compatibility with Rhizobia coating. Some benefits could be also obtained using wood ash, considered as a rich source of minerals but also some heavy metals [33,34]. Wood ash is widely used as a beneficial fertilizer in many crops such as winter rape [35], maize [36,37], potatoes [38], and okra [39]. Tannins are polyphenol compounds with molecular weights ranging from 300 to 3000 [40], which are available in bark, wood, leaves, fruits, and roots [41,42,43]. Their antimicrobial properties were highlighted in a review by Scalbert [41]. Cinnamon products, where cinnamon essential oil and cinnamaldehyde represent the main bioactive compounds [44], are reported to positively influence the plant defense system via the raised enzyme activity level [45] with antifungal and phytotoxicity properties, according to Kowalska et al. [46].

The improvement of seed germination could also be applicable to lucerne sprout production for human nutrition where various seed treatments have also been investigated, such as the plant immunity modulator (PIM) [47], vacuumed hydrogen peroxide vapor and vacuumed dry heat [48], non-thermal plasma treatment [49], ozone treatment [50], or ozone and electrolyzed water treatment [51]. It can be assumed that there are more potential approaches for the improvement of seeds; however, there is a lack of systematic research comparing the efficacy of the above-mentioned methods on lucerne performance, especially under field conditions. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of different types of lucerne seed priming or coating on lucerne germination and emergence, followed by the testing of selected combinations under field conditions, in association with the assessments of root morphology development. These results could have beneficial outcomes for practical application with regard to the improvement of lucerne stand establishment via improved seed performance and potential for the optimization of the lucerne sowing rate.

2. Materials and Methods

A series of experiments were established to test the efficacy of different seed treatments on germination, emergence, and seedling early growth in lucerne.

Table 1. Temperature (heat treatment), concentration of solutions (suspensions), durations of priming, and the use of additional binders for lucerne seeds across all experiments.

	Temperature, Concentration (w/v%), Duration	Proportion of Additional Binders
Seed priming/heat
Control
Heat treatment	41 °C/100 h
Hydro-priming (water)	6 h
Vermitea	10%/6 h
Bokashi juice	10%/6 h
Potassium permanganate	0.2%/6 h
Chitosan	1%/6 h
Seed coating
Bentonite (B)		100% Bentonite or 50% Gypsum/50% Bentonite
Gypsum (G)	2.0%	50% Bentonite
Leaf-wood ash	0.2%	50% Bentonite or 50% Gypsum
Picea abies ash	0.2%	50% Bentonite
Tannin quebracho	0.2%	50% Bentonite
Cinnamon powder	2.0%	50% Bentonite or 33% Bentonite + 33% Gypsum
Cocoa powder	0.5%	50% Bentonite or 50% Gypsum

lists all tested treatments across experiments together with the application rates. All seed-treatment compounds were purchased commercially except for wood ashes, which were collected after the combustion of Picea abies wood and other woody, leafy species. Vermitea and bokashi juice were prepared according to standard procedures. Lucerne seeds of the Pálava variety with a germination percentage of 75% and a thousand-seed weight of 1.9 g were used in all experiments. Seeds were treated via seed priming according to standard procedure and coated in a rotating pan at 60 rpm, and the powder and distilled water were added alternately. This system led to the weight of the thousand seeds (WTS) increasing about 40–50%.

2.1. Germination Experiments

The preliminary experiment showed an inhibition effect of seed coating in the germination test, and therefore, bioactive compounds were tested alone in water suspensions (tannin in solution). Seed priming was realized three days before a germination test. Due to the large number of bioactive compounds and limited space in the growth chamber, the experiment had to be divided into two cycles, referred to as the suspension experiment or priming experiment (see

Table 2. The germination dynamics (in %) from 3rd to 7th day and seedling length (in mm) on the 7th day in two separate cycles.

Time (Days)	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	Seedling Length
Suspensions experiment
Control	12.8 af	41.8 a	65.8 ae	72.6 ae	75.0	56.2 a
Leaf-wood ash	15.8 fg	47.2 a	69.4 ae	73.4 ae	76.8	48.0 b
Picea abies ash	11.2 abf	38.8 abe	62.0 ab	69.0 abd	73.4	50.0 b
Tannin quebracho	5.4 cd	21.0 c	45.4 bc	60.0 c	75.6	26.3 d
Cocoa powder	6.2 bc	33.2 be	61.6 ab	73.2 ae	77.6	49.1 b
Gypsum	3.0 cde	22.4 c	51.2 bc	66.4 abcd	74.6	56.3 a
Cinnamon powder	0.4 de	20.6 c	46.8 c	61.4 bc	71.4	39.5 e
Priming experiment
Control	22.2 ab	54.8	66.0	75.6	75.6	55.0 a
Heat treatment	16.8 b	49.8	65.4	75.4	75.4	53.0 ab
Chitosan	33.6 c	55.4	64.4	72.8	72.8	61.6 c
Bokashi juice	24.0 a	52.8	66.8	76.2	76.2	52.0 b
Hydro-priming	41.6 d	55.4	64.4	75.6	75.6	53.6 ab
Potassium permanganate	32.4 c	53.2	63.4	72.0	72.0	59.4 c
Vermitea	25.0 a	53.8	66.8	73.5	73.5	52.2 b

n = 5; one-way ANOVA; different letters document statistical differences for Fisher’s LSD, α = 0.05. Bold values highlight the significant differences relative to the control.

). A control treatment was included in each cycle. One hundred seeds of lucerne were placed onto a filter paper in 11 cm diameter glass petri dishes (shown in Figure 1a,b). The seeds were suffused with 10 mL of suspensions or distilled water (for priming treatments). Five repetitions were conducted for each treatment under the 12/12 dark–light regime in a Binder KBWF 240 growth chamber (Binder GmbH, Tuttlingen, Germany). The temperature was 20 °C during the whole period of the experiments. Petri dishes were watered every day with distilled water and the positions were changed inside the growth chamber to provide balanced conditions.

Germination was evaluated on a 24 h basis, and the germinated seeds were determined as the percentage of seeds from which the plants with fully developed cotyledon leaves had developed. The experiment was terminated after the 7th day, and at this point, the rest of the seeds were considered as non-germinated. In the last day of the experiment, 30 random seedlings were selected, and their length (including shoot and root) was measured.

2.2. Seed Emergence Experiments

Seed emergence was tested in the soil substrate (haplic chernozem) maintained inside the growth chamber under controlled environment conditions at 20 °C, a light–dark regime of 12/12 h, and 30% relative humidity. The emergence experiment was also divided into two cycles similar to the germination experiments. One hundred seeds were sown in pots with 3500 g of chernozem substrate and covered with soil to a sowing depth of 1 cm with five replicates (each plot—90 cm⁻³). The pots were regularly irrigated with 100 to 400 mL of water and their position was changed on a daily basis (shown in Figure 1c). Seedling numbers were counted from the 3rd day (and not removed), and the length of 30 randomly chosen seedlings was measured on the last day of the experiment.

2.3. Small-Scale Field Experiment

The selected promising treatments were tested in the field experiment. The focus of the field experiment was on plant early growth and root morphology development. The experiment was established at the CULS field station in Suchdol (50.129976 N, 14.373707 E) on 21 June 2022. The soil of the experimental site is characterized as clayey-loam Haplic Chernozem with the pH (KCl) 7.1, with a plant available phosphorus of 91 mg kg⁻¹, potassium 230 mg kg⁻¹, magnesium 240 mg kg⁻¹, and calcium 9000 mg kg⁻¹ [52]. The seed treatments were completed a day before the establishment, and the list of selected treatments is shown in Table 1, their combinations are described further. Each plot was 35 × 40 cm and was broadcast seeded with 100 seeds in five replications. Daily temperatures and precipitations during experiment are shown in Figure 2. The experiment was harvested after 60 days on 21 August 2022 to provide results on the effect of treatments in the early growth stage. All plants per plot were dug up to a depth of 20 cm (see Figure 1d) and the taproot diameter (TD) and number of lateral roots above 1 mm (LRN) was assessed in line with [53]. The length of the shoots and roots were measured per plant and the weight of the shoot and root dry biomass was assessed per plot (dried at 103 °C until constant weight).

2.4. Statistical Analysis

All measured seed performance traits were analyzed within each experiment via one-way ANOVA with fixed effect of treatment. When the treatment effect was significant at α = 0.05, the means are followed by Fisher LSD post-hoc test at α = 0.05. The data were analyzed using the STATISTICA 12.0 program [54].

3. Results

3.1. Germination Experiments

In the germination experiments, both the negative and positive effects of seed treatments were found (Table 2). There was a significant positive effect on germination at the 3rd day for all priming treatments, except for the bokashi juice and vermitea priming. However, the germination became equal to that of the control treatment from the 4th day. Negative effects were observed for several suspension/solution treatments, including tannin quebracho (from the 3rd to the 6th day), cocoa powder (3rd and 4th day), gypsum (from the 3rd to the 5th day), cinnamon powder (from the 3rd to the 6th day). No significant differences were observed on the last day of experiments. Differences in the seedling length among treatments are presented in Table 2. Negative effects were shown for the vermitea and bokashi juice priming, leaf-wood ash, Picea abies ash, tannin quebracho, cocao, and cinnamon powder. On the other hand, a positive influence of both the chitosan and potassium permanganate priming was observed.

3.2. Emergence Experiments

During two experiment cycles, positive effects on the emergence dynamics were visible for variants with potassium permanganate priming (exceeded control in the 3rd day) and chitosan priming (exceeded control from the 4th to the 6th day). However, cinnamon powder/bentonite coating variants showed consistently higher values than control treatment from the 4th day to the end of the experiment. Although a negative influence on the emergence dynamics was also found (Picea abies ash/bentonite-coated and cocoa powder-coated treatments), these negative effects were eliminated at the end of the experiments, as shown in

Table 3. The seed emergence dynamics (in %) from the 3rd to the 10th day and seedling length (in mm) on the 10th day in two separate cycles.

Time (Days)	3rd	5th	7th	10th	Seedling Length (mm)
Coating experiment
Control	0.0	54.0 ab	68.0	70.4 abc	69.2 a
Vermitea priming	0.4	59.4 a	69.8	73.6 bc	69.0 a
Bentonite	0.0	51.2 abc	67.8	72.6 abc	68.4 ab
Gypsum/Bentonite	0.0	54.0 ab	72.0	74.0 c	70.3 a
Leaf-wood ash/Bentonite	0.4	51.4 abc	68.4	70.8 abc	68.7 ab
Picea abies ash/Bentonite	0.0	42.0 c	64.2	64.2 a	66.2 b
Cocoa/Bentonite	0.0	40.0 c	63.6	65.4 ab	68.4 ab
Cocoa/Gypsum	0.0	43.2 bc	66.2	69.4 abc	70.8 a
Priming experiment
Control	7.8 ab	66.0 ab	67.2 abc	68.2 abc	67.0 ab
Heat treatment	11.2 abc	67.4 abc	68.6 abc	69.2 abc	67.0 ab
Chitosan	15.2 abc	74.2 cd	75.0 cd	75.6 cd	65.6 b
Bokashi juice	8.8 ab	62.8 a	62.8 a	63.2 a	63.2 e
Hydro-priming	17.8 bc	67.8 abc	68.4 abc	69.2 abc	70.3 cd
Potassium permanganate	22.6 c	66.4 ab	67.0 ab	67.2 ab	68.7 ac
Tannin quebracho/Bentonite	10.0 ab	70.8 bcd	70.8 bcd	71.0 bcd	69.2 acd
Cinnamon powder/Bentonite	5.6 a	75.6 d	77.6 d	77.6 d	71.3 d

n = 5; one-way ANOVA; different letters document statistical differences for Fisher’s LSD, α = 0.05. Bold values highlight the significant differences relative to the control.

. Cinnamon powder/bentonite coating and hydro-priming significantly exceeded the control treatment with about a 5% increase in seedling length. However, the bokashi juice priming and Picea abies ash/bentonite coating treatments caused a significant decrease in this value (see Table 3).

3.3. Small-Scale Field Experiment

The effects of the selected treatments on lucerne early growth and root morphology are shown in

Table 4. The effect of seed treatments on shoot length (SL, cm), tap-root diameter (TD, mm), lateral root number (LRN, pcs of root branches above 1 mm per plant), and dry plant weight (DPW, g DM) after 60 days after sowing.

Treatment	SL	TD	LRN	DPW
Control	27.5 a	2.98 bc	1.13 abcd	44.0 ab
Hydro-priming	28.4 abcd	2.91 ab	1.06 ab	51.3 ab
KMnO4	28.3 abcd	3.03 bcd	0.97 a	47.1 ab
Chitosan	30.0 cdef	2.93 abc	1.30 cdefg	49.1 ab
Vermitea	28.0 abc	2.98 bc	1.24 bcdefg	51.6 ab
Cinnamon powder/Gypsum/Bentonite	31.2 ef	3.13 cde	1.17 abcdef	48.8 ab
Gypsum/Bentonite	29.8 bcdef	2.74 a	1.10 abc	50.7 ab
KMnO4 priming + Gypsum/Bentonite	30.7 ef	3.08 bcde	1.38 efg	46.1 ab
KMnO4 priming + Cinnamon powder/Gypsum/Bentonite	30.2 def	3.2 de	1.39 fg	45.6 ab
KMnO4 priming+ Leaf-wood ash/Gypsum	31.7 f	3.12 cde	1.42 g	57.3 b
Chitosan priming + Gypsum/Bentonite	29.7 bcde	3.25 e	1.38 fg	50.0 ab
Chitosan priming + Cinnamon powder/Gypsum/Bentonite	29.3 abcde	3.01 bcd	1.15 abcde	40.1 a
Vermitea priming + Gypsum/Bentonite	30.3 def	3.04 bcde	1.32 cdefg	51.3 ab
Vermitea priming + Cinnamon powder/Gypsum/Bentonite	28.3 abcd	2.98 bc	1.26 bcdefg	53.2 ab

n = 5; one-way ANOVA; different letters document statistical differences for Fisher’s LSD, α = 0.05. Bold values highlight the significant differences relative to the control.

. There were no significant differences observed for the following variables (ranges in brackets): dry root weight (15.5 g–23.6 g), dry shoot weight (24.6 g–33.8 g), and dry weight of whole plants. Vermitea priming + the gypsum/bentonite coating treatment resulted in significantly fewer plants per plot when compared to the control (47 vs. 37); however, no other differences were found for this variable.

Among the priming treatments, there were no significant differences in comparison to the control except the length of the stems of the chitosan priming variant. Pure-coated seeds provided some benefits: the cinnamon/gypsum/bentonite coating significantly exceeded the control treatment in stem length. Gypsum/bentonite-coated seeds produced higher plants in comparison with the control, and this treatment simultaneously resulted in a reduced tap root diameter.

The best performance was achieved in the treatments combining the priming and seed coating together. They should be divided into three groups according to priming agent, where potassium permanganate priming was more effective, together with any coating method where each of these combinations supported stem length and particular root traits. Chitosan priming improved root traits only in combination with gypsum/bentonite. Vermitea priming in combination with the gypsum/bentonite coating improved stem length under conditions with a lower number of plants per plot.

4. Discussion

4.1. Lucerne Seed Priming

Our results demonstrate that the germination or emergence of a seed lot can be improved via seed treatment methods, where seed priming had a positive effect on the dynamics of germination and where chitosan and potassium permanganate provided the best results. Positive effects of potassium permanganate priming have been reported previously for wheat and sorghum seeds [55,56]. Our study has presented positive results for this priming method on the dynamics of germination and emergence with the simultaneous support of the growth of lucerne seedlings. This was also found in the small scale-field experiment that combined this priming with seed coating.

Chitosan priming has been widely investigated for lucerne seeds. This has mostly been in the context of supporting drought tolerance, although mold resistance has also been mentioned [25]. Our results are in line with results of Mustafa et al. [57], who soaked the seeds of lucerne for a longer period at a higher temperature (18 h at 27 °C); this resulted in shoots that were 10 percent longer and roots that were 20 percent longer during drought stress, compared to hydro-primed seeds. Consistent effect on higher seedling growth was observed across all types of experiment whilst a positive response in root development was visible only in combination with the gypsum/bentonite coating.

The absence of any significant effect of the seed heat treatment corresponds with the study of Hinojosa-Dávalos et al. [58], who reported no harmful effects on lucerne seed germination after heat treatment. Similar results were also achieved in experiments that used soaking in hot water [59].

Hydro-priming is generally used as a basic technique to enhance seed germination, and a positive effect of this treatment on lucerne seed germination has been reported by Amooaghaie [60]. In our study, this positive effect was also achieved in the early days of the germination experiment, but the effects did not remain at the end of the experiment. There was also improved seedling growth in the emergence experiment, but no effect was visible in the field experiment. More studies about the hydro-priming of lucerne seeds have been published; however, most of them are related to soil salinity and enzyme performance [60,61,62]. In contrast with the positive published results of vermitea priming on lucerne seeds [17], our study did not demonstrate any positive effect across a series of experiments. It could be associated with difficulties in preparation and the standardization of preparations such as of vermitea as well as bokashi juice.

4.2. Lucerne Seed Coating

In the present study, seed coating especially improved seed emergence with the best results showing for cinnamon with bentonite. Gypsum was found to be a beneficial substance for seed coating in this study, and sulfur may have a positive role. However, the amount of sulfur delivered via coating with gypsum is likely to be insufficient to correct any potential soil sulfur deficiency. Several studies have already shown the beneficial effects of gypsum as a soil amendment [63,64]. Also, in the USA, some seed companies already provide gypsum seed coating, and it is recommended for acidic soils [65], whereas the soil in this study was neutral with a high nutrient status. In the germination experiment of the present study, the cinnamon powder solution inhibited the germination rate and length of seedlings, which is in line with Cavalieri and Caporali [66], who reported the same inhibition via cinnamon essential oil on Mediterranean weeds seeds in controlled laboratory conditions. However, this inhibition was not observed in some other experiments [67]; Kowalska et al. [68] achieved positive results on inoculated tomato plants with a cinnamon powder filtrate at the same time.

In the small scale-field part of the present study, there was an apparent beneficial effect of the cinnamon powder/gypsum/bentonite coating treatment, but this could be related to a consistent improvement of plant stem growth under the gypsum/bentonite coating (see Table 4). It highlights the fact that combinations of coating substances could provide different performances within plant species than the effects of individual substances alone.

4.3. Relationships of Simple Laboratory Tests to Field Condition and Root Morphology

The results of priming treatments within germination experiments correspond with the results from the emergence and field experiment. This is in contrast to the seed coating techniques where the range of tested coating substances showed inhibition effects in germination tests, which were probably related to osmotic imbalance [69]. However, the results of the experiments where coated seeds were in contact with soil provided even more positive effects. Hakl et al. [70] warned that low quality of the coating may even represent a risk for a reduced emergence in the field. According to [71], the adoption of highly artificial and controlled conditions during experimentation raises issues about how to interpret these “in vitro” experiments. On the other hand, it seems that treatments in which primed seeds were investigated has provided consistent results across the entire series of experiments in this study, and therefore, the testing of variable priming techniques via laboratory cultivation seems to be an effective approach. A similar conclusion was reported by Bradford et al. [72], who found a relationship between the mean time of the germination of pepper seeds and the emergence in primed vs. control treatments. Field experiments also enabled the evaluation of root morphology development, as tap-root diameter and lateral root number formation have clear connections with stand productivity and root disease resistance [53,73]. In this regard, the consistent improvement of root branching under potassium permanganate priming can be highlighted. There is a need to consider root development in relation to the sowing rate [5].which was uniform among variants here. It should also be considered that the good soil conditions in the present study could have contributed to a lower effect of tested seed treatments on the evaluated traits. The tested methods of seed treatments could be important, especially for the improvement of an emergence with a reduced sowing rate under less-favorable soil conditions. Under optimal field conditions for stand establishment, such as good soil quality, moisture or optimal sowing depth, a significant improvement of emergence from seed treatments probably cannot be expected.

5. Conclusions

Our study provides the results of testing various lucerne seed priming, coating, and their combination. Germination tests were not considered suitable for the evaluation of substances in suspension due to poor relevance with the tests in the soil. On the other hand, simple germination tests seem sufficient for the evaluation of priming techniques. The seed priming method that is capable of improving some characteristics like seedling length or emergence dynamics is potassium permanganate and chitosan, which provided the best results (+10% above control). Among seed coating methods, bentonite and gypsum could be recommended as binder agents, whereas gypsum was able to improve the growth characteristics alone. Cinnamon powder significantly improved the emergence dynamics (+13%) and seedling length (+6%) above the control. Under field conditions, the best treatments were from combining the priming with the coating. Our study highlights the need to combine simple germination tests with soil emergence and field experiments, especially for coating methods. Tests in soils are more closely associated with practical conditions, and the development of root traits needs attention here because there are visible positive responses in tap-root diameter and lateral root number. Further research is needed to confirm the observed positive effects across varieties and different field conditions.