The research assessed how water extracts from Galium aparine affect the germination energy and capacity, as well as the length of the seedling root and the first leaf of the ‘Turnia’ cultivar of wheat and of the ‘Rataj’ cultivar of barley.
The experiment was conducted under laboratory conditions, with the use of Petri dishes. The influence of three concentrations of water extracts prepared from the dry and fresh mass of the plant’s above-ground parts was examined. Petri dishes watered with distilled water constituted the control object.
Water extracts prepared from the Galium aparine dry and fresh mass reduced the germination capacity and energy of wheat and barley in direct proportion to the increase of the concentration. Higher concentrations of water extracts reduced, to a significantly larger extent, the growth of the first leaf and seedling roots of both species. The lowest-concentration water extracts from the Galium aparine fresh mass stimulated the growth of the first leaf and seedling root of the cereals under study. Water extracts prepared from Galium aparine fresh mass shortened the length of the seedling root of barley to a significantly larger extent than that of wheat.