pre sowing of seed

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Chris in Leeds
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pre sowing of seed

Post by Chris in Leeds »

I have been told by a few people that they put seed in the fridge for at least 24hr before sowing it. does anyone do this and if so does it give better results

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Re: pre sowing of seed

Post by Aloenut »

Hi Chris,

I store all my seed in the fridge until I am ready to sow. Don't know if it gives better germination, but it keeps them viable for longer.

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Re: pre sowing of seed

Post by Chris43 »

I'm no expert, but I had always believed / been told / overheard that a spell in the fridge or freezer was only really necessary if the seed in nature typically had a period of such cold.
On this basis, seeds of cacti from the US South West and higher might benefit. Not sure about the high Andean plants though. I have never had trouble germinating the usual types (Rebutias, Sulcos, Gymnos, etc.) but haven't tried too many other South Americans other than these, Fraileas and Eriosyce.

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Re: pre sowing of seed

Post by Roy »

Like Chris I've read the various accounts of people using cold/warm cycles to improve germination and often wondered whether it merely caused physical damage to the outer coating that then improved the chances of water penetration or whether other chemical changes were the trigger. If it was just physical stress then I suppose just cracking the shell or rubbing it with sandpaper would have the same effect.
Having said that I must admit that I don't do it on the seed I sow but it may be necessary on other seed. I do however store some seed in the refrigerator, NOT THE FREEZER.
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iann
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Re: pre sowing of seed

Post by iann »

Mostly, I get seed, I sow seed. Seems to work for mesembs and the vast majority of cacti. Such seed might or might not have been stored in a fridge at some point, that's where I keep surplus seed. Seed taken directly from plants without ever going near a fridge has germinated well, although it is known that some mesemb seed may not mature until weeks or months after the capsule is ripe.

Many seeds have very specific chemical dormancies that must be broken by a period of cold moist stratification, probably the most common dormancy of seeds, but I'm not aware of any cacti like this. Such a dormancy is not broken by storing dry in the fridge for any length of time. Sowing seeds with such a dormancy will give you little or no germination until after the cold period which is weeks or months long.

The difficult cacti seem simply to have a tough seed coat. Nicking, sanding, soaking, freeze/thaw cycles, and just plain old time will all produce some germination and different people recommend different methods.

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Re: pre sowing of seed

Post by Julie »

I've heard of land which was traditional English woodland, used for growing of fast evergreens for 35 years, and then given back to broadleafed trees. With no planting needed, in a few years there were broadleaf saplings and lower-growing plants covering the earth. Those seeds had been dormant for 35 years, and still grew when the light was right.

I've also heard of tough nuts in rainforests needing six or so winters before they germinate. In cultivation at a University (I forget where) they got it down to a few months, by putting trays of the big seeds (about Brazil nut size) in freezers and warm incubators. Nothing else worked, presumably they tried sanding and scarifying.

I wouldn't fancy sanding teeny weeny Gymno seeds! :)

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