my seedpod finally turned yellow. painted lady x new orleans lady. i opened it and it had the most hideous brown things inside.
i am a complete novice to growing from seeds - these are my very first ones!
what should i do with them?
to peel or not to peel
Since they are fresh, you really don't have to worry about peeling.. but it would be fun to learn. If I were you, I'd peel some.. and leave some on.. then you will see what it's like both ways.
I soak em in a cup of solution..
1qt water, 2 glugs peroxide and a few drops of superthrive.. or just plain water if you don't have all this stuff..
then just plant em like you would any others!
Sometimes the "head" stays on, but don't worry.. they will shed them..
If you have problems with fungus gnats.. use sterile potting mix.. and cover with plastic or a dome.. Fungus gnats will eat the seeds as they germinate.. (if they are bad enough)
Have fun!!
Those "hideous brown things" may hold a new plant worth keeping. Seriously, what you see is the cork that protects the actual seed. You don't have to peel. Not peeling doesn't affect germination rates. It can serve to trap the new cotyledons if the humidity isn't high enough. I like to peel mine mainly because I like to know how many seed I'm starting off with. Sometimes the corky cover has nothing inside.
You can plant them now or let them dry for a few days and store until you are ready to plant. Start off with a sterile starting medium — conditioned rockwool, coir, starter mix, etc, just don't use the Jiffy discs that expand. You can plant the seed individually or in groups. Those disposable plastic containers work just fine. Poke some holes in the bottom. Press the seed on the soil surface so it has good contact with the soil, but don't cover as light seems to help germination.
Keep the soil moist or seal in a plastic baggie. Place the bags under grow lights or where they can get bright indirect light or early morning sun. Once the seedling has 4 real leaves, pot individually in 4" pots or 16 oz plastic cups that have holes poked in them.
I have nine new seedlings and I peeled all of mine. Like stated above I found some of them empty or with undeveloped seeds inside. The peeling was not so bad. Even for me..I am not a small task fan...lol...oh also two of my emerging seedlings broke their little heads of for some reason. Out of 12 seeds I have nine seedlings.
After the experience of finding a few empty seed pods I would peel them if you are anxious.It would be awful for you if it is the first time ...waiting on empty corky things. The other thing to do is peel just a few so you know the cross worked and that you may expect seedlings from those peeled ones. Good luck and congratulations
...another angel lover making babies. Cool.
thanks for the quick help, i'm quite excited and also a bit itimidated, first time for me asmy other seeds from the broken pod haven't done a thing and i would really like to get in on the excitement of watching these children develop.
i peeled about half of them, there are 'white thingies' inside, is that the seed?
they are not uniform sizes, some are much larger than others. is that normal?
i had two pods, about 70 total uglies and about 30 peeled ones now.
i put all the uglies in sterile mix with a baggie on top, the peeled ones are still out on my counter and i'll put them in pots today.
what is the normal time for germination? they will be in my greenhouse.
Yes, the lil white or cream colored bean is the seed.
It is normal for them to be of all different sizes.
If you soak them.. floaters are just as good as sinkers.. they are not like other seeds where the bad ones float..
They will germinate anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months! They are fresh, so I anticipate 5 to 7 days? Just a guess...
They will be happy in the GH.. it's so fun to watch the tiny things develop into huge plants and then give you a bloom.. nothing like it..
Scrawny seedlings don't always mean they are not worth keeping.. Big beautiful seedlings don't always mean they ARE worth keeping.. there is no way to know what is going to produce what as they are growing.. I've had several scrawny or what I call struggling plants really produce nice blooms.. I've also had 10' beautiful standards produce single white very common blooms.. they all need an equal chance unless they are really not strong enough to survive or hold their own.
Enjoy!
Man was that right. My seeds were really different sizes so I put the biggest ones in pots in a separate areas thinking those would be the biggest plants. Boy was I wrong! Some of my puny seeded ones are plants that are twice the size of the other seedlings. Mine took three weeks to germinate under the cooler conditions in my sunroom. I worried they might rot in the cooler night temps we were having, but they are doing great. I am a first timer too, so it has been an adventure.
Ive done it both ways and seen results quicker with peeled.
I've found that soaking and peeling accomplish a number of things:
1. Its a mess.
2. There's more opportunity to damage the nut of the seed.
3. Too much wasted effort.
I place dry seed either on top of moist grow mix, or cover sparingly with soil.
It is more important to concern oneself with moisture control after the seed is planted. Misting daily with a 50/50 mix of water and fungicide is the MOST important procedure one can follow when sprouting seed.
LOL Different strokes for different folks!
I love to peel seeds.. it's fun to me.
I'm going to try something new and plant an entire pod of seeds in my garden area outside.. just to see what I get...
i had such a pleasant surprize!!
remember my broken branch with the pod? i planted the seeds and look here, just one but i feel like such a proud mom:
Great! Here's hoping that more sprout for you.
looks like almost all the ones i peeled have sprouted.
i have another ripe pod with about 60 more seeds.
10 seeds of PL x NOL are up for postage (i am new to this also, so if this is in bad form, someone let me know please) to the first 6 folks who send me a d-mail.