I've had a lot of helmets this season. It could be lack of humidity. I also plant shallowly. My go-to is applying spit, spit, spit (it's what Carolyn suggests), keeping the seed coat constantly soggy and then *very* delicately working on it. My hardest one was a Ramallet Ibiza Blanca. I first succeeded in cutting away a bit of the seed coat with an exacto knife, then after more soaking in spit, the rest softened enough to pull off with tweezers.
There was a thread here about nicking the seed coat prior to germination to see if it would prevent helmets, but so far nobody has done the experiment. I may try it once my starting tray & lights are free.
Nan
Nan
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