Morning Glories: Old Seed Germination Tricks & Dead Seed, 1 by Rareseedman

Rareseedman wrote:
I had about 60 seeds from 1999 to 2001 of ipomoea tricolor. I tried to germinate them 10 at a time and each time they turned to mush.

I have found something that works for me and managed to germinate 3 seeds out of 67 ipomoea tricolor from 1999 and 2001.

I have used the method on fresh seed and have had almost 100% germination.

1. Soak the seed in hydrogen peroxide 3% for 10 minutes, then dry it. This removes any pathogens (fungal / bacterial) It also means you do not have to chip the seed or abrade it. On a microscopic level the seed coat is worn down enough to allow even absorption of water, you don't get that big blob of gel or situation where a weakened cotyledon has a chance to rot.

2. Place the seed with sterile tweezers on a sterile piece of filter paper that has been soaked (but not swimming) in a solution of GA3 (Gibberillic Acid 200ppm) I made that from a 500mil solution that I had put in 2 drops of super thrive.

3. Cover with cling film and leave at room temp NOT any highter. It's IMPORTANT that the paper is just damp, not wet, as my trials have shown that old seed that is just soaked in water etc explodes and will ooze gel..infecting the entire batch.

4. Make observations every few hours through the cling film (you guys call it saran wrap?) remove any seed that have started to split down the middle or ooze gel, wash any remaining seed everytime you remove dead seed, if any mould has formed transfer everything to a sterile dish, I have gone so far as to spray the seed with 3% hydrogen peroxide solution and rinse it straight away.

I treat all my seed old or new the same way, I swear by the hydrogen peroxide trick, it degrades to harmless oxygen and water. DONOT even think about using chlorine bleach it will kill your seeds straight out!!

I have attached a photo of dead seed that I germinated the wrong way for reference purpose before I did the above trial...I am sure we all know what dead seeds look like..I think it is all down to keeping everything clean...and the GA3 works as well..

This message was edited Jun 18, 2009 7:05 PM