When I planted my brug seeds from poppysue, I really did try to peel one or two. My fingers hurt, I was afraid that I was destroying part of the seed....so I stopped, and just soaked them and planted them with the outer casing....they came up fine.
In another thread, kell said that she had to learn how to peel them....& apparantly did...so could someone please teach me an easy way to do it ?
Just how do you peel a brug seed anyway???
Margie, I don't have a clue, but I have nicked hard seeds such as the brugs, and it did make them sprout quicker. Now, let me ask you this - did you plant yourse with the point up or down??? I did point up, and it looks like they are all going to sprout, but they have been slow. In fact, Candy sent me some datura seeds, which Madeline and i planted maybe three days ago, and two are already up, Madeline ain't gonna believe it, they are totally different than the brug seeds, I could not believe my eyes when I found them and they are already approx 3 inches, whew!! Also, next time I plant brug seeds, I will nick them and, or try peeling them, put them in rockwool, then into those little 6 packs, with potting soil, with some of the seed sticking out, then sit outside in a shady place with some sun. You are a zone ahead of me so you shouldn't have any problem. BTW, my first seedling, is covered in sweet, soft fuzz, really cute!!!! I'm trying not to over protect, ya know??!! One other thing, where is Candy, I haven't seen her around in a few days...
A lot of very fresh seeds will peel fairly easily without soaking, especially those with a lot of aurea in them. The smaller seeds, I don't attemp to peel, just soak and plant. When I have seeds that I do peel, I just use my fingernail and go at it easy until I find the bean inside the cork. Once you have peeled a couple, you will just go at it and not worry. The beans are pretty hard and it would be fairly hard to hurt them unless they are really fresh and they might be a little softer. You will also run into an empty cork once in a while. It happens, so don't worry about it. Unless everyone peels them before they give them out or sell them, it is impossible to know which ones will be empty and it would be a heck of a job.
I did soaked mine for less 24 hours or overnight. I peeled them very easy.
If my seeds are hard to peel(or when I have no fingernails left because of gardening), I soak mine a couple of hours, blot them dry with a towel to remove the slimey stuff that sometimes gets on the outside and then peel. They usually peel easily then.
Would that soak test work for Brugs, then, to see which ones are viable and which ones are hollow? I read that if you soak the seeds, the good ones sink, and the hollow ones float on the top. If I don't get an answer on this, I'll just experiment next time I do Brug seeds. I'll soak them, and plant the ones that float separate from the ones that sink, label them and see what happens.
This message was edited Jun 5, 2004 2:41 PM