Reproduction Capacity of Polygonum Cognatum Meissn. (Madimak).

Polygonum cognatum, known as ‘madimak’ in Turkish, is a weed found in both agricultural and non-agricultural areas. The weed is one of the widely known traditional eatable plants in Anatolia.  To be able compensate increasing demand easily and supply the plant to the markets, farmers started cultivating madimak in Central Anatolia. However the production of the plant via seeds, germination percentage and germination rate are low due to dormancy, and rhizomes is quite difficult. Therefore, studies were conducted to document the variation of reproduction capacity of Madimak rhizomes during a growing period, and to find out the germination capacity and dormancy breaking techniques of madimak seeds. The pot experiments were conducted with four replicates and continued for 12 months. Five rhizome fragments of the same thickness and different lengths (0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10 and 15 cm) were planted to each pot. The emerging seedlings were harvested after two months. The germination and dormancy breaking experiments were conducted as petri dishes experiments with four replicates and repeated twice. Seeds of P. cognatum were subjected to different including various levels of GA3, KNO3, and mechanic, chemical and cold stratification treatments, and combinations of both. The greatest reproduction capacity of madimak rhizomes was observed in November and December. The trend in reproduction capacity was decreased from January to July. Although the rhizome fragments sprout, no further reproduction was occurred from August to October.  The results indicated that successful vegetative reproduction of Madimak can be achieved in the November-March period. The length of rhizome should be at least 5 cm for vegetative reproduction. Giberrallic acid treatment following the scarification of the madimak seeds with concentrated sulfuric acid up to 30 min was effective in breaking seed dormancy. The seed germination rate was increased from 1% to % 57 compared to the control.