Three basic conditions must be fulfilled for germination to take place properly:

1. The embryo should be alive, which is also known as seed viability.
2. There must not be any dormancy inducing causes that prevent germination.
3. The environment must be suited for germination.

Seed viability is defined as the capability inherent in the embryo that enables it to germinate and is governed by a number of different criteria. The different environmental factors that affect germination are; water, oxygen, temperature and light. Seed germination can be divided into three distinct phases: water imbibitions; lag phase; and radicle emergence. If a seed faces constraints during germination (Sprouting) and is unable to germinate within a specific time period, the embryo dies. Different seeds have different sprouting times or length of viability. Some varieties of maple seeds need to germinate within two weeks of getting dispersed; else they die; whereas some types of lotus plants are 2000 years old and yet are capable of germinating. There are many seeds that are alive and yet remain dormant, which means that they will never germinate or sprout even if the environment is right for germination. Dormancy is influenced by factors that are both external as well as internal. Temperature, pH levels and light are examples of external factors that govern the process of germination. Some of the internal factors that affect germination include the presence of specific plant hormones such as absciscic acid, which prevents germination and gibberelin, which is a hormone that ends dormancy. The appearance of the radicle denotes the end of the germination phase and the onset of “establishment”. The establishment phase ends with the exhaustion of the entire stored food reserves within the seed.

In agricultural parlance, germination rate is defined as the number of seeds of a specific variety of plant that are likely to sprout; which is normally described as a percentage, e.g. a 78% germination rate means that 78 out of 100 seeds are likely to germinate under appropriate conditions. Germination rate is required to assess the number of plants that would come up in a particular area.

Hence, germination is a process that signifies the birth of a new plant and is a very interesting and dynamic process which if observed properly can bring to light various unknown facets regarding the plant world.