Drag off those seed husks:- with course grit & sand.
 

After doing a bit of experimenting, and getting more and more frusterated with seeds coming up with the seed husk still there, I decided to experiment with various composts.

Fine grade mixes usualy give the best germination rate- but also the worst seed husk attached rate. so after a while I decided after trial and error to top dress my starter trays with a thin layer of course grit and sand and that seemed to do the trick- without altering the germination rate.

It seems that they need something a bit heavier to drag on when emerging to grip the seed husk and pull it off whilst they pull the two seed leaves out and straighten up,


As a matter of interest you never seem to see stuck seed husks on volunteer seedlings in the garden soil , as this seems to work on the same principal,

Most of he commercial mixes a too light for them to drag the husk off properly.

Humm, I have one potting mix that doesn't have perlite but does have a good bit of sand in it. Doesn't seem to help my seedlings at all. I think this is interesting though. I really thought that the ones in the garden didn't have that problem though because they get rained on and this helps get rid of any stuck ones.

Perlite unfortunatly is still too light to drag off the seed husks, it needs to be heavier -like course grit.
you theory on the ones in the garden may well be correct as its a strong possibility.

Michael,

What else have you used to get off stuck seed coats?

There have been thread after thread at many sites where I post where folks use all sorts of techniques that seem to work.

As for me, putting some spit on them and letting the enzymes work on the seed coat seems to be very effective.

Stuck seed coats seem to be a problem mostly with old seeds, per the posts of many, and I agree.

I learned to use spit after reading on these forums as well this year and it seems to be working really great for me.

Got some seeds from '94 (Break O Day) that are germinating now. 4 out of 18 are up in 1 week's time, but all 4 have 'pinheads'...no cotyledon pushing out at all.

I've used the spit technique that has been successful in the past, but these won't let go. I haven't gotten terribly concerned yet, as 3 of the 4 just broke ground today...but did soften the husks with spit to kind of help nature along. I didn't tug or pull on them yet.

When should I become more agressive?

Got 7 of the Break O Day seedlings up now..3 have pushed off the seed husks, so I'm just sitting on my hands and trying to wait them out.

All 18..+1 germinated of the Landreth...19 seedlings! Two look like they were stuck together at sowing...and I'm lousy at math. They all seem to be shedding the husks fine.

But what about those *(&@#%$ seedlings that pop up and then as they try to pull away from the seed husk they just break off!! And then you've got a sprout with no leaves that is no use to anyone. I use seed starting mix, so it shouldn't be a problem with being too light--it's the opposite, like the seed coat was too heavy and it broke trying to pull up on it.

Anyway, does anyone know why that happens? Is it some lesser-known form of dampening off?

THanks,
AJAX

Hmmm...ajax, I've not had that happen...yet.

I can report that of my old seeds that were coming up pinheads, the last ones are not as bad.

I had some '94 seeds that I soaked and planted. The first 4 to germinate were all stuck tight. By the time the last ones (so far 15 out of 18) were breaking ground, two weeks later, The seed husks weren't as tight...or were properly cleaning themselves completely.

The longer they had to sit in the mix, it seemed that the husk broke down properly. I would trade off the pinheads for the fast germination though....makes me nervous to wait more than a week...

The "slobber" method has me kinda intrigued ...

Next year I'm gonna experiment with different slobbers. Maybe collect one cup each of slobber from St. Bernards, camels, llamas, Great Danes, Jersey cattle, and other slobbery critters, and presoak same source seeds in the various spittles ...

Maybe I can even apply for a patent if I develop a primo slobber presoak product.

PV

I see most stuck seedcoats with seed that is on a heating pad. The first peppers that pop up can be like the seedcoat is baked on, and the longer they get heated the worse. The peppers that germinate later are almost always fine. Same goes for tomatoes. It seems they are much better about it if they germinate at a kind of natural time scale. We get in a hurry and screw things up...my very unscientific musings this year.
Also related to SODs law, only seedlings that one germinated, and you really want to grow, will break off at the head from stuck seedcoats...

Jeanne

for some reason
the spit trick has been
working for the ones getting stuck ( only had ( 3 ) ...
I just don't want to get into anything
"too" risky ~

Tom