= Germination
{wiki}
<Seed> <germination> is renewed <plant embryo> activity and growth. Many <germination assays> score completion as <radicle> emergence, before <seedling> establishment. <Seed imbibition> precedes that endpoint; swelling alone is insufficient.<Seed dormancy and the control of germination by William E. Finch-Savage and Gerhard Leubner-Metzger>[Seed dormancy and the control of germination, §II.1, p. 502: <water> uptake, embryo expansion and radicle protrusion]{ref}
\Image[/germination-stages-and-light-assay.png]
{title=<Germination> stages and a controlled red/far-red <light> assay}
{description=Original qualitative diagram. The upper sequence separates <seed imbibition>, activation, <radicle> emergence and later <seedling> growth. The lower panel is a proposed <germination assay>, not observed counts or a measured time curve.}
<Water>, <molecular oxygen> and suitable <temperature> support <germination>; <light> sensitivity depends on the <species> and <seed> state. Neither illumination nor one particular <temperature> is universally required. <Seed dormancy> connects <germination> timing to <ecology> by delaying <seedling> establishment.<Seed dormancy and the control of germination by William E. Finch-Savage and Gerhard Leubner-Metzger>[Seed dormancy and the control of germination, Summary and §II.1–2, pp. 501–502: environmental requirements and timing]{ref}
The distinction matters when comparing propagation experiments: a treatment that increases <radicle> emergence need not improve later <seedling> survival. Define the endpoint before comparing treatments, then measure the later outcome separately.
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