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A lab dose-response — germination photographed at each dilution.

Rice (OM 4218) · Nicotech dose-response study · Can Tho, Vietnam · 2013
99% vs 87%
germination at 1:1000 vs water control (88 h)

A lab dose-response at Can Tho, Vietnam: OM 4218 rice seed soaked at four dilutions of the treatment and scored against four commercial stimulants and a plain-water control. Here is how the dose landed — and where it went next.

OM 4218 seed at the strongest dilution tested, 1:1000 — the densest germination and the longest shoots.
OM 4218 seed at the strongest dilution tested, 1:1000 — the densest germination and the longest shoots.
How the trial was run

One seed, nine ways

The question was narrow: which dilution of the treatment does rice seed respond to best? At a lab in Can Tho, OM 4218 seed was split into nine lots of 100 grams — four dilutions of the treatment, four commercial seed stimulants, and a plain-water control — then soaked, laid out on cloth, and scored for germination and for root and shoot length at 40, 64 and 88 hours.

Thinner and thinner

Germination held high across the range — 99% at 1:1000, 96% at 1:3000, 98% at 1:5000, and 91% at the thinnest 1:10000. The response wasn't a straight line: 1:1000 and 1:5000 led, with the fall-off only at the thinnest dose.

Germinated seed at 1:3000.1:3000
Germinated seed at 1:3000.
Germinated seed at 1:5000.1:5000
Germinated seed at 1:5000.
The thinnest dose tested, 1:10000.1:10000
The thinnest dose tested, 1:10000.
Germination (88 h)
1:1000
99%
Plain water
87%
Shoot length (88 h)
1:1000
23.5 mm
Plain water
7.6 mm
Root length (88 h)
1:1000
19.2 mm
Plain water
13.7 mm

Against plain water

The study's control was plain water — seed soaked with nothing added, alongside four commercial stimulants. Side by side at 88 hours, the strongest dilution (1:1000) led the water control on every measure the report tracked.

A separate field trial

The lab result recommended taking the best dilutions to open ground — and a later, separate planting at Ninh Binh (2016) did exactly that, comparing treated and untreated rows in the paddy. It is a different trial from the Can Tho lab test above, shown here for context.

Treated rows — open-field planting at Ninh Binh, Vietnam (2016).Treated
Treated rows — open-field planting at Ninh Binh, Vietnam (2016).
Untreated control rows, same field.Control
Untreated control rows, same field.
Recorded
Germination — 1:1000 (88 h)99%
Germination — 1:5000 (88 h)98%
Germination — plain-water control87%
Best commercial stimulant96%
Shoot length — 1:1000 / water (88 h)23.5 / 7.6 mm
Root length — 1:5000 / water (88 h)21.2 / 13.7 mm
First seed chitted — 1:1000within 16 h
Nature of this record

A laboratory germination study, not a field-yield trial — the report itself recommends an open-field follow-up. The dose-response is non-monotonic (1:1000 and 1:5000 scored best), which is worth confirming in the field.

Source: Nicotech dose-response study · Can Tho, Vietnam · 2013

The only number that counts is the one on your field.

Every figure here is a historical, third-party observation — not a guarantee. Run a control strip and let your own ground decide.

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