Before I bought my dehydrator I threw all my "extra" pods into ziploc bags and then into the freezer. A bit over a week ago I used a pod from the freezer, and speculated about what would happen if I let the seeds from that pod dry out and then attempted to germinate them. So I decided to give it a whirl - after letting the seeds dry for several days, dampened a paper towel, put four seeds inside it into a ziploc, put it on top of the fridge, then walked away. They were put into the ziploc less than a week ago.
I told a few folks about this, and most assured me the seeds would not sprout. I was given the description that the freezing would expand the inside of the seeds to the point they would basically explode internally, that even if there was no visible sign of this from the outside, that would be what was going on inside of them. I explained my hypothesis that seeds must freeze in nature - the ground here certainly freezes to a certain depth - and since they survive in a frozen state in nature, surely they will survive my freezer. To this I was told that seeds don't actually freeze in nature, that they are protected from actually freezing by the ground around them, etc., etc.
Well, my response to that was effectively
whatever. Still, if they didn't sprout, no harm, no foul. Lesson learned by experiment.
Yesterday I opened the ziploc to take a peek. Seed casings were still intact. But of one of them, just one, I thought "could be my imagination, but I think something is trying to break out." Just a little tiny bulge on the outer edge of one of the casings. Hmm...
So tonight, pulled out the ziploc, and to my pleasant surprise, two of them have now sprouted, and the others show visible sign that they will sprout overnight or tomorrow. Pics below: first is with flash, next is without flash with the light to the side. The two on the left have sprouted, while you can see the tell-tale bulge in the casings of the two on the right:
In reading the above, I realize this may come across as a snub to those who told me this wouldn't work, but that is not my intent or thought at all. Instead, I am so shocked, surprised, amazed, astounded, (etc., etc.), and happy, that I wanted to share this with you. In case you have some pods in the freezer and have thought to yourself "I wish I had saved some seeds and not put them all in the freezer", know that all is not necessarily a loss! Let me qualify all this by stating the pods were in the freezer portion of my fridge - it is not a standalone chest-type freezer set to something below zero F. If you have pods in a super-cold freezer, I'd suggest trying an experiment of your own.... let us know how it works out!
Still and all ....
I told a few folks about this, and most assured me the seeds would not sprout. I was given the description that the freezing would expand the inside of the seeds to the point they would basically explode internally, that even if there was no visible sign of this from the outside, that would be what was going on inside of them. I explained my hypothesis that seeds must freeze in nature - the ground here certainly freezes to a certain depth - and since they survive in a frozen state in nature, surely they will survive my freezer. To this I was told that seeds don't actually freeze in nature, that they are protected from actually freezing by the ground around them, etc., etc.
Well, my response to that was effectively
whatever. Still, if they didn't sprout, no harm, no foul. Lesson learned by experiment.Yesterday I opened the ziploc to take a peek. Seed casings were still intact. But of one of them, just one, I thought "could be my imagination, but I think something is trying to break out." Just a little tiny bulge on the outer edge of one of the casings. Hmm...
So tonight, pulled out the ziploc, and to my pleasant surprise, two of them have now sprouted, and the others show visible sign that they will sprout overnight or tomorrow. Pics below: first is with flash, next is without flash with the light to the side. The two on the left have sprouted, while you can see the tell-tale bulge in the casings of the two on the right:
In reading the above, I realize this may come across as a snub to those who told me this wouldn't work, but that is not my intent or thought at all. Instead, I am so shocked, surprised, amazed, astounded, (etc., etc.), and happy, that I wanted to share this with you. In case you have some pods in the freezer and have thought to yourself "I wish I had saved some seeds and not put them all in the freezer", know that all is not necessarily a loss! Let me qualify all this by stating the pods were in the freezer portion of my fridge - it is not a standalone chest-type freezer set to something below zero F. If you have pods in a super-cold freezer, I'd suggest trying an experiment of your own.... let us know how it works out!
Still and all ....
