why dont mgs seeds germinate

i got some in a trade the other day as a bonus as they were japanese ones and was so excited.

well i did the paper towel method as always which i have lots of babies from like heavenly blue and comman ones going so i did something right but these japaense ones threw me for a loop.

i opened the baggie last night to plant them as all the common ones had their little feet things so figured they did too.

nope these were all spilt open looked like the stuffing in side was just black ick. one even had little white things on it. moving. and the worst is they stank.

ive never had any do this. i wrote her and told her about this but havent heard back from her.

why would these do this? what could i have done wrong when the others even the squash seeds all did fine this way.

yes i tossed them out the door. dont do crawly things too well.

Marie

Sounds like they are rotten. How long did you "paper towel" them? nils really don't need it, and you can just put them straight in the soil if you like.

three days the others were popping out the paper towel and leaves showing . they are now in those jiffy thingys till they show roots and then into places outside. its still cold right now. but getting warmer by the day.

was that too long? and the paper towel was damp not overly wet at all. scared of drowning seeds for some reason. they were on my moniter as its warm and these really threw me for a loop. i have always had germination and then they die for what ever reason but none from the start.

anyway was wanting these as they looked pretty but o well. off to try to get a mg bush started from cutting. hmm

MGs have chemical inhibitors that will prevent some of them from germinating when you want them too...so I just put them in the soil so they can germinate when they are ready. If ALL your nil seeds were rotting, though, it just sounds like you got bad seeds.

I recommend planting the nils and purpureas in pots with tags so they can be monitored for sprouting. Don`t give up too soon and plant something else too quick or you could find two kinds of plants in your pot.

Some nil and purpurea seeds sprout better if you Lightly(tiny scratch) nick and soak for 6-8 hours and then plant about 1/4" in depth but be careful not to soak too much and cause them to break open which can ruin them. Usually it can take 3-7 days up to 21 days. I even had a pot of seeds I planted last year that finally came up this year.

Gypsy Bride purpurea took her time which was 3 weeks to sprout. Another time I planted Gypsy Bride it took only nine days. I`m unsure why but time of year and temperature and maybe things we don`t think about much could affect sprouting times. Nicking and soaking seeds that need more time can result in rotting. I no longer nick and soak tricolors because of my experience. Your mileage may vary from mine if you start working with them and see what works for you. It is good to experiment a little if you have plenty to work with.

Ipomoea tricolors like Heavenly blue need to be planted and waited opon imo. It can take up to 3 weeks for tricolors.

Seeds loose viability with age and your seeds sound like old inviable seeds. Fresh seeds gathered the year before are optimal for sprouting sucess.

Karen

I tried with several varieties using wet coffee filters and they smelled bad too and rotted, some did germinate, but took several days/up to two weeks both the purpureas and nils, so I just nick and soak, some longer than others, each one can burst if you don't keep your eye on them.. for some reason I have bad luck with the baggie method. I won't even try it again, after several failed attempts. Also the ones that reseeded and that I mixed up and put into pots without soaking/or nicking have germinated, but they were put in several months ago and they took awhile, but I wanted to see how hardy they were compared to the soaked seeds, so we'll see, they are outside now and the temps are going from 51 low last night to 37 tonight, so I may lose those.

yes.. I've found they don't do bottom heat real well.. so I sprout them cool...
also.. and unrelated to temps..some will sprout out right away. and others take months..
like in my garden.. i can go out today.. and pull out every volunteer sprouted seedling from last falls seed drop.. and in two weeks there will be more of them up sprouting.. so if I pull all of these ..the bed cleared for the second time.. in 3 weeks there will be more up and sprouting.. all were planted...[ dropped ] last fall.. all kept wet till now..all at the same temps.. and all taking from 1 to 7 /more weeks to sprout.. and more will come out later.
After a month or so.. I remove the seeds/soil from the little starter pots.. to a bulk storage pile of the same type in a large saucer. seperated by a barrier to the next unsprouted type.. it's easier to keep them moist together.. each type/area is marked as to the type.. so if there are late sprouters I know who they are.. and I free up trays and space under the sprouting lights..
Gordon..
a drop oh H2O2 in the seed soak helps cut down on the rotting also.. some will want to do that.. even off the heat.. being sprouted cool..























This message was edited Apr 19, 2008 3:38 AM