Stuck Seed Coats... How long is too long?

[HeirloomNewb]

I've read several posts about how to remove to the seed coat if it is stuck. Many people like to give the plant a chance to shed the coat (or so I read). How long is too long to give the seedling a chance before heroic measures are recommended?

Thanks!

[WildLife]

Hi H Newb
I don't know how long.
I do know that I had 1 that took me
4 days to get off. The coat was stuck for
a long time, when it finally started worrying
me it took an additional 4 days of spitting
and testing,finally eased it off, whew!
Total time from sprout to coat off was approx
10 days?
Wild "gotta feelit" Life

[michael johnson]

I should give them abut two-three weeks if Iwas you,with all the usual spitting-wetting and soaking, if all else fails- mix up about 1/2 a pint of liquid feed not too high in nitrogen, at about half strength and with a glass eye dropper slowly drip two or three drops onto the seed husk and dribble down to the root base- this often starts off a bit of green seed leaf showing , done on a daily basis for a few days it might do the trick.

[gardenmama]

WOW ya'll are really patient. Me, I give them 10 minutes.

After misting and applying saliva, I wait about 10 minutes and then with a very gentle pinch I tease the seed coat off. I lose about 50% of the ones that are absolute "pinheads" (stuck coat with no leaves, tight neck at stem) but those that have partial leaf emergence do just fine.

[Goddessemer6]

I'm with Gardenmama! I've just gotta see those green leaves! I had one incident this year with my Ida Gold where the seed coat wouldn't come off and after a few days I noticed that the stem right under the seed coat was starting to wilt like it was going to die so I had to do an emergency operation! Fortunately Ida has a happy ending, not only did I manage to get the coat off but it ended up having four cotyledons and is now a healthy 8" tall and ready for transplanting!