I have been seeing a lot of comments about the "helmet heads" on seedlings. I know what they look like because I have had a few before but dont really know much about them or their effects on the plants. I noticed mine usually died or were really stunted but did not pay too much attention really. Could you guys enlighten me?
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Helmet heads
- Thread starter LordPepper
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It would help if you let us know what it is you are looking for more specifically. The "helmet" is the seed casing. Normally as a plant sprouts from the seed, it sheds the seed casing; however, this doesn't always happen. In general, in soil, the plant pushes up through the soil, and this pushing against something helps the casing to come off. Therefore, if you plant too shallowly, or germinate in damp coffee filters (or whatever), you are likely to get an increase in seed casings remaining on the plant. I have done both - direct-sown in soil and germinated in damp coffee filters. When I direct-sow, I put the seed at least half an inch down, probably an inch in some cases. This goes against what I've seen many post - that you shouldn't go deeper than 1/8" down - but I've never had an issue with helmet head when direct sowing this deeply, and the plants just seem to figure out how to make it through to the surface. In coffee filters, however, it's happened to several.
As you've noted, when the seed casing remains on the plant, the plant will either eventually shed it (within a couple days is fine), keep it and be stunted, or keep it and die. You may be able to manually remove them yourself, but you have to be uber-gentle. My approach is to spray the casing with water to soften it, then pinch the seam of the casing to make the opening wider, then GENTLY pull. If the casing won't slide right off easily, stop and try again the next day - if you pull the cotyledons off, the plant will die.
As you've noted, when the seed casing remains on the plant, the plant will either eventually shed it (within a couple days is fine), keep it and be stunted, or keep it and die. You may be able to manually remove them yourself, but you have to be uber-gentle. My approach is to spray the casing with water to soften it, then pinch the seam of the casing to make the opening wider, then GENTLY pull. If the casing won't slide right off easily, stop and try again the next day - if you pull the cotyledons off, the plant will die.
If the cotedylons are still deformed, do you know if that will affect anything with growth?
Seedlings derive a fair amount of early nutrients from the cotyledons. If they get deformed less nutrients are available to the plant. Sometimes it's enough to kill them, most of the time their growth is retarded, and sometimes they're just fine. I've found that I usually do more harm than good trying to remove the helmets and I just let nature take its course these days.
When I get helmets I just take a dropper and try to keep a drop of water on the helmet and leave it for about 30 min or so. Then I get back at it and take it by the stem and gently pull the helmet off. If it's still stuck I'll leave it moistened a lil bit longer, I still ripped heads off tho.... I don't really care tho because I put at least 2 seeds per cell sometimes 3.
+1 to geeme! Too shallow is a big factor. I go 1/4" which is what most seed vendors recommend. When measured its actually deeper than it sounds. I use a pre marked bamboo kebab skewer. Pre-soaking helps too. Removal vs let it be could be debated for 50 pages with no "right" answer. I remove them. Sharp nail clippers and a set of hemostats work for me, but not without some casualties. Only one helmet this year for me of 40ish up thus far, and a successful surgical removal! Good luck, think survival rates are probably close to even between the two options.