ipomoea obscura germination

Thought you guys would like this, but where do we get Sulfuric Acid?

Google Ipomoea obscura germination, the former link wasn't reliable

Frank

This message was edited Apr 3, 2009 4:48 PM

My question too! Someone jump on here and give us a source, please!

Frank, the link seems to poop out when trying to reach the abstract...what's the title of the article?

When I tried to go back to the site to copy it, it wouldn't let me because I had already been there. So I googled ipomoea obscura germination again and it found it for me instantly again. You are looking for the one from the University extension station in Georgia USA.

Becky, I cheated. I took an eye dropper and got some acid out of my spare lawnmower battery. Soaked for 90 minutes, and am about to nick the seeds and soak them in GA3.

Frank

Here are several links to Ipomoea obscura germination where sulphuric acid was used to soften seedcoats

Ipomoea obscura germination enhanced by sulphuric acid
http://74.125.93.104/search?q=cache:fT-9Zn4udfQJ:www.newcrops.uq.edu.au/listing/species_pages_I/Ipomoea_obscura.htm+germination+%22ipomoea+obscura+%22&cd=10&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&lr=lang_en
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119616430/abstract
http://www.fao.org/agris/search/display.do?f=2008/TH/TH0805.xml;TH2006000174
more generalized
http://74.125.93.104/search?q=cache:JBH4sPqpY6UJ:www.bioversityinternational.org/publications/Web_version/52/ch16.htm+germination+%22ipomoea+obscura+%22&cd=11&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&lr=lang_en


Ipomoea obscura specific information regarding factors influencing germination including storage variables
http://kasetsartjournal.ku.ac.th/kuj_files/2008/A0804110922034995.pdf
http://kasetsartjournal.ku.ac.th/kuj_files/2008/A0804281127058663.pdf


Hope that helps...


TTY,...


Ron


P.S. Joseph - take particular note of page 334 - 335 in the 2nd article

This message was edited Apr 4, 2009 1:56 AM

I love reading research reports, thanks, Ron!

Frank - The whole battery acid application just really throws me for a loop! How in the heck do these vines germinate in the wild? Are they eaten by birds and their digestive acids help them to germinate? I just can't visualize using acid on these little seeds ... LOL!

Becky - The sulphuric acid is used to rapidly remove hardseeded-ness but careful mechanical methods are preferred...the sulphuric acid is practical to use in studies where large quantities of seeds used may be impractical to manually penetrate with a blade or other physical device....

There are many methods of inducing seeds to germinate that may not use the same exact tools as found in Nature,but produce an analogous result...

e.g., metal pins do not occur in nature to place a hole in the seedcoats allowing water to enter, but metal pins (as a man-made tool) can effectively achieve much quicker what usually occurs slower in nature via the gradual softening of the seedcoat for imbibition...


TTY,...


Ron

Thanks, Ron! I am getting the jest of all of this.

So these seeds need piercing to the seed coats to germinate? Soaking alone probably wouldn't work?

Becky, the exotic seed treatments used by those of us germinating species, do not necessarily apply to the garden varieties. There a good number of people growing species, and the hardest ones to germinate. Very often they just take longer, and do present more obstacles. For some of us that just makes it more fun because of the challenge.

I wonder how many people beside me actually used battery acid? That is a stretch.

When you queried what kind of wildlife could accomodate the germination needs of some of these species, you were right on the money. I would bet money, that Ostriches share the same habitat as I. obscura. The gizzard or crop, along with the stones these birds swallow for grinding the seeds they eat, get the job done quite well. I think their digestive fluids are much stronger than ours.

Yes I do have a B.S. in Horticulture, 1974, a little dated now. Frank