Abstract: This study was to compare the relative salt tolerance of differentially salt-tolerant cultivars of wheat, rye and barley grown at varying concentrations of NaCl in solution culture during germination. Increasing concentration of NaCl (60-150 mM) reduced the percentage of seed germinating. The lines of Hordeum sativum were generally less sensitive to the NaCl-induced reduction in respect of the character than Triticum aestivum or Secale cereale. Germination is not a good discriminating character for salt tolerance in this study.