Germin_v3: a program to calculate germination characteristics.

To run, for the first time you should Enable all macros. To do:

Go to Excel options → Trust Center → Trust Center Setting → Macro Setting

→ and then you should select: Enable all VBA macros (not recommended; potentially dangerous code can run). Without enabling this option, the tool will not work.

To use the tool, you need to enter the number of observations (counting times) in the inputs section, next to the Record. No cell. You should also enter the sampling times below the T title. These times are usually in hours or days, and you should enter the corresponding cumulative percentage of germinated seeds under the G section (the time unit can also be days, weeks or months or other time scales, and the unit of D will be match by it). You should continue collecting and recording data until the germinated seed percentage reaches a constant value in the experiment and enter it in the tool. Then you can click on the GO button of the tool, and the outputs will appear on the right side of the sheet. The output section differs among the three versions of the program.

The outputs includes the maximum germination (Gmax) and the germination rates based on different germination percentages, which are R05, R10, R20, R30, R40, R50, R60, R70, R80, R90 and R95, calculated and displayed by the program. It should be noted that if the germination percentage does not exceed a certain percentage, the time to that percentage and higher will be considered as infinite and the germination rate for that percentage will be calculated as zero. For example, if the final germination percentage is 78%, the germination rate from R05 to R70 will be calculated and have a value greater than zero and for R80 to R95 the germination rate will be zero. The zero germination rate data are analyzable and in case of errors in the data, one can perform data analysis by appropriate data transformation. If a researcher needs data on the time to different germination percentages, they can reverse the output data.