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Sourcing Salt petre

dvg

dvg

In reading up on some pepper seed germination tactics, I came across the use of salt petre or Potassium Nitrate for speeding up germ rates for some of the slower and more difficult C. chinensis and wild pepper varieties.

http://www.brighthub.com/diy/lawn-garden/articles/76741.aspx

So thinking I'd just go out and buy some, I went to a local greenhouse. Turns out the guy there grows peppers and does quite well with them, but didn't have any potassium nitrate. But he did advise me to try a pharmacy/drugstore.

The first drugstore I ventured into had a young lady who had never heard of Potassium nitrate or salt petre for that matter.

I told her that it was rumored to be fed to sailors on ships back in the day.

"Oh", she replied, "To prevent scurvy".

"No, it was to prevent a bunch of horned up randy sailors from jumping the cabin boy", I tactfully responded.

In the end she wasn't much help.

When I got home I phoned a major seed seller in Edmonton. They had what I was looking for in 50 lb bags, but it could only be sold to registered greenhouses with a valid numbered business license.

Salt petre was removed from the market at the beginning of the year in Canada. It had previously been available as a stump remover and as a garden soil amendment. But it seems that some wayward youngsters also used it for their pyrotechnic experiments and adventures. :hell:

I tried gunshops(because of the gunpowder aspect - gunpowder is made up of saltpetre, charcoal and sulpher), hobby shops (because of the model rockets) a couple more greenhouse/nurseries and even a tree nursery...all to no avail.

I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be able to get this locally at all. The thought of using vinegar, orange juice or chamomile tea as alternative soaks for my pepper seeds were also being weighed as possibilities.

And there was always the online mailorder option.

Finally I decided to try a Big Chain pharmacy in a small town. The pharmacist who answered the phone was an older gent who knew what potassium nitrate was and also what it was used for and though he was sold out, he did give me the number to another pharmacy in the town.

I phoned over and the druggist there said he didn't have any, but that he could order some in for tomorrow.

So, after all that, tomorrow afternoon, I'll be able to pick up 125ml of pharmaceutical grade potassium nitrate for around $6.00 CAD.

I hope the pepper seeds I ordered will appreciate the effort I put forth to help get them started.;)

Cheers,

Doug
dvg
 
Datil Patch said:
Check at Lowes. Spectracide Stump Remover. I think I paid $6.99 for the 1lb bottle of powder. I soaked all my seeds in it for last season.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_188198-316-188198_0__?productId=3018790&Ntt=spectracide&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dspectracide

according to the MSDS it is 100% Potassium Nitrate.
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One of the benefits of being States side, I guess.

Unfortunately, Lowes was forced to remove Spectracide Stump Remover from their Canadian shelves at the beginning of the year.

Now, it's a wee bit more challenging to find a few grams of potassium nitrate to speed up our chile seeds, here in the Great White North.;)

regards,

Doug
dvg
 
:shame: bombs are bad mmmkay... ;)

you could always try ebay ?
I know here in Aus its fairly simple to get on ebay - probabily monitored by the government :party:
 
PepperLover said:
if i was a pepper seeds i would appreciate all what uv done
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Awwwww thanks Pepperlover. That's so sweet. I'm going to try using this on some of the seeds you're sending me.

Then I should see all sorts of 7 Pods and Scorps popping up outta their pots. :fire:

And thanks guys for all of the other sourcing options. I haven't tried an aquarium shop yet. Or a meat processing supplies market that might use this product for curing ham, sausage or bacon.

But I can pick some up tomorrow and a little salt petre goes a long way for presoaking chili seeds. :D

Thanks again,

Doug
dvg
 
In my opinion chile seeds are soft enough and germinate easily on their own without extra fuss. I may try some saltpeter on some banana seeds which are very hard seeds and can take over a year to germinate
I would not however use saltpeter in sausages or cured meats, its old school curing which isn't healthy
 
I do a quick soak in bleach water then over night in 3% Hydrogen peroxide which seems to work well and kill any fungus or diseases that the seed coat may be carrying. I've not used any Sodium nitrate before, so I might just give it a try, I seen a 1oz bottle of it in a chem. set awhile back at a walmart. :)
 
POTAWIE said:
I would not however use saltpeter in sausages or cured meats, its old school curing which isn't healthy
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Yeah maybe, maybe not. Who really knows.

I see that Mapleleaf Meats is now advertising a kid safe luncheon meat that is purportedly nitrate-free.

Interestingly enough, the bottle of Saltpetre I picked up yesterday at a local pharmacy only listed a single application for it's use on the bottle, "Used for pickling meat".

dvg
 
So the pharmacy is into selling meat cures...lol
Since 1975 only sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite are permitted for curing meats in the U.S., except for some rarer dry cured sausage such as air dried salamis which may sometimes still contain very small amounts of saltpeter. Sodium nitrate/nitrites are needed to cure many meats we know, it turns simple pork into wonderful bacon and hams and although its not really great for you in quantity, it is produced naturally by our bodies and there is actually more nitrates in green vegetables than in most cured meats
 
Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing... sodium nitrate is not saltpetre, it is "Chile saltpeptre" or "Peru saltpetre" or NaNO3. The OP is talking about Saltpetre or Potassium Nitrate, KNO3.
 
Datil Patch said:
to make a 1% solution you only need 1 gram of KNO3 to add to 99mL of water.
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What is the recommended soak time at that concentration Datil Patch?

I have read about a teaspoon of saltpetre in a quart of water to be used for a 4 hour pepper seed soak.




@Potawie, I'm aware of nitrates showing up in some animal crops such as alfafa/hay crops.

We live in a rural area and our neighbor does a hay crop. He has to let the hay dry/cure for a while before he can gather it up, once it has been cut.

He was concerned how long he would have to let it sit on the ground after a frost had hit his crop earlier this fall, just a day or so before he was to cut it down.

He sells his hay to owners of throughbred horses and he was concerned about the nitrate levels that might still be higher than he wanted in the hay.

As far as nitrate levels go in green vegetables, I know very little about that.

Is this to do with concentrated chemical NPK fertilizers or does this occur even in organically grown green vegetables?

And how concerned should we be about the level of nitrates in green vegetables. Probably not too much, I'm guessing.

Doug
dvg
 
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