The Effect of Light on Seed Germination The following experiment was performed to study the effect of different wavelengths of light on seed germination and subsequent seedling’s growth: 15 imbibed lettuce seeds were placed in petri dishes under 6 different treatments: white light, darkness (control), red light, blue light, yellow light, or green light. During the experiment data were taken on number of germinated seeds (Table 1). After 5 days additional data were taken and recorded (Tables 2-5) 1. Before you begin with the data obtained in the experiment, postulate your hypotheses, e.g. which light treatment would result in higher germination? Now study the tables and explain results in terms of how each light wavelength affected seed germination, germination rate, and seedling vigor. Are the results as you would expect? Why or why not? 2. 3. Data Tables Table 1: Light color and seed germination Yellow Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Total seeds 10 10 10 12 12 Table 2: Light color and germination rate (G) Inumber of seeds germinated on day X (Table 1) /total number of seeds (15) x 100] Yellow Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 26.7 53.3 66.7 66.7 13.3 26.7 46.7 53.3 33.3 46.7 53.3 73.3 Tablo 3: Effect of light color (Gi) on seed germination [(total number of seeds germinated for each treatment on Day X x number of seeds germinated in the white treatment on Day 5) x 100 White Yellow Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 10 100 70 70 100 120 Table 4: Average seedling length [average length of germinated seed (cm) on Day 5] 2.8 3.9 Table 5: Seedling vigor index [(average seedling length of each light treatment x Germination rate on Day 5)/100] Yellow 2.7 1.8 2.8