Seed germination technique...

[bush billy]

I've had a great success with germinating them in water and yes wilderbud they do split! and i've found the sinking effect has no bearing on it! do you get all of your experience from books?

[Guest Wilderbud]

wilderbud ... do you get all of your experience from books?

Ugh, no. I only just read about stratifying seeds lately and this is the only reason I mentioned a book. I learn the hard way mostly - Ive killed my share of seedlings.

 

I have had good success with growing a few plants from seeds [dont count my recent indoor attempts and Ive grown some fruit seeds also when the fruit tasted nice - strawberry and passionfruit mostly - my orange, apple and pomegranate trees were assaulted by a mower so they didnt go so well in the end].

 

BTW osmosis effect is a guess by me - Ive never read about this when it comes to seeds and I know a sinking doesnt means its ready to grow [mouldy seeds sink too]. I soak them until they crack but I dont let them sprout under water as theres too much light.

 

PS Have you ever heard of someone spraying a jet of water into a cup to aerate it?

[Wezz]

I believe the process of osmosis is what you are doing when putting water near a seed and some seeds have hard cases so they will need to be soaked. For other species of seeds germination can be really hard and you have to score [stratify] some hard cased seed to let them soak up the water.

 

Wilder... Osmosis is how a plant draws the water up from the soil. It works on Atmospheric pressure, a drop of moisture on the leaf evapourates (through the Stomata's) and must be replaced so the moisture is eventually drawn up.

Or good anology would be the way a peice of cloth or paper will draw up water...

 

Another term in this thread that I think some one is confused with is the term Scarification. A lot of native plants need their seeds to be Scarafied before they will greminate. One reason for this is the thousands of years that Aboriginies have lit fires. EG, many Wattles (Acacia) seeds need to put into boiling water and left over night.

[Guest Wilderbud]

Stratification : the placing of seeds in damp sand or sawdust or peat moss in ordere to preserve them or promote germination.

 

Scarification : the act of scoring a seed to accelerate osmosis.

 

Reverse foliar feeding : feeding a plant through its foliage - osmosis is part of this and is also part of germination, root feeding and lots more things. I learnt about osmosis 15 years ago.

 

BTW - my guess is right - I shouldnt doubt an educated guess.

 

I dont know why you replied - oh crap I wrote the wrong word - I meant [scarify] - I did say score a seed so it should have been a given that it was a typo.

Edited December 10, 2003 by Wilderbud

[Hallucinogen]

When some seeds I germed started to crack I decided to put them in front of the heater and within 4-6 hours they had around a 1cm tap root hanging from the seed