Effects of helium-air Rf plasma jet on onion seedling growth

The aim of presented study was to determine an efficiency of cold plasma technology on the growth of onion seedlings after pre-sowing stimulation of Alium cepa cv. `Wolska' seeds with (He+Air) plasma. Observations were conducted in the time span of 12 days from seedling start time for seeds treated with a different exposure times: 0 - as a control and 60, 120, 240 and 480 seconds with 60 mm distance from plasma jet. Seed germination was conducted in accordance with the ISTA recommendations of 2017. The plasma technology had a beneficial effect on the intensity of seedling growth in every treatment. On the last day of the study, the best efficiency of seedling germination was observed in the 240 and 120 s exposure time treatment. The seedlings in the 240 s treatment were by 28.6 mm longer than the control and by 24.8 mm longer than the weakest combination - 480 s of the exposure time. The results showed the most positive effect of cold plasma stimulation on the seedling length in the 240 s plasma emission treatment.