Objective: Plant life begins at germination. Stimulating germination with chemical methods can be advantageous. The pregerminative treatment of four promoters was determined in two maize genotypes (G1, G2).Design/methodology/approach: Sixty seeds per Petri dish were used as experimental unit with three repetitions, organized in a completely randomized 24 factorial design. Two factors were taken into consideration: A) Genotypes (G1, G2); and B) four pregerminative promoters. The genotypes were Antelope G1 and yellow Antelope G2. Meanwhile, the pregerminative promoters were salicylic acid (C7H6O3) (SA), citrulline (C6H13N3O3) (CI), humic substances derived from leonardite (HS), and tap water (TW), in 1000-ppm concentrations. The following variables were evaluated: germination percentage (GP)/days1, radicle diameter (RD), radicle length (RL), and number of lateral seminal roots (NSR). An analysis of variance and Tukey tests (0.05) were performed.Results: The germination promoters were highly significant in both genotypes, as well as during the promoter-genotype interaction. G1 and G2 means showed a higher growth and development for humic substances (HS) during germination in the NSR.Study Limitations/Implications: Germination can be inhibited, if the promoters are overweighted.Findings/Conclusions: The best genotype and germination promoter (G2) had a 94% effectiveness and HS at 1000 ppm. CI and SA registered the lowest GP.
