seeds Checking out for bunk seeds

S

smokemaster

I've been doing this for years.
 
Most people soak their seeds prior to planting.
 
To see what is inside soaked seeds,put them in a zip then hold them close to a light source.
Basically you'll see bad embryos,no embryos or seeds that are cool looking.
No brown or weird looking stuff inside.
For those that use the paper towel/zip lock method,you probably already figured this out.
 
I have to use a Loop to see what is up but I've been riden hard and put up wet for 60 yrs.
My eyes aren't all they are cracked up to be.
 
I think a LOT of people think they messed up with their seed germination,just because It's their first time.
I'd bet the seeds were bunk a large part of the time.
 
Especially recently with the newer vendors,I see the better part of the seeds in a pack being bunk-no embryo or a screwed up one.
Shell looks great.
I see myself spending a lot of coin for smaller and smaller packs of seeds that a majority of the pack doesn't sprout.
 
I really don't think most suppliers know their seeds are not ripe yet.
They go for pod color or whatever.
The pods I save personally I let stay on the plant until they start to shrivel or fall off (depends what variety).
 
Sometimes supply and demand of certain varieties demands a Vendor has to de Seed pods as soon as possible.
If the shell looks cool , the seeds get sold.
 
I'm not ragging on anyone,just telling people to check out their soaked seeds for healthy embryos.
I don't toss out the stuff that looks questionable,I just put them ALL in the same pot to germinate-just in case.
 
I don't know what a Vendor can do that would be cost effective other than let ripe pods for seed sales stay on the plant longer.
I don't know the percentage of bad seeds per pack I've gotten.
I just know that recently I get very low rates of germination from some packs of seeds from the same vendors while everything else is almost 100%.
 
I posted this so people won't spend weeks waiting on empty shells to sprout,not to rag on vendors.
With too many varieties taking sometimes weeks to germinate,and some people with short seasons to grow in.
 
Candling your seeds might insure you get the plants you want in the time you have to grow in.
You can sprout a few extra seeds after inspection after the soak to possibly insure success.
 
This is a good one! Probably will save a lot of my time and nerves. Just checked yesterday most of Chinense, and ready to soak. Right on time, Mike, right on time! Thank you for this great tip!
 
Ya.I know tons of people wearing out the way down to their basements every few hours to see if the seeds hooked yet. :)
 
It's something I've done for years (candling seeds - like you used to have to do with homegrown chicken eggs) but never thought about posting.
 
Now that seeds are getting more expensive for smaller packs etc.,and I just soaked a batch of $.75  a seed packs that were 5-10 per pack.
(Only 3 seeds out of 10 looked good in 1 pack).
 
I posted this just so people can possibly increase their chances in getting what starts they want without having to start over for the stuff that didn't sprout.
Instead of starting over,you can just add a few more seeds to cover the possibly bad seeds you soaked.
 
Worst thing is,some of the bad looking ones might sprout.
After candling seeds for a while and seeing results as to what seed sprouted you get really good at predicting what is bad,questionable or good to go.
It doesn't insure all that sprouted will grow to maturity.
Just might save you time to start replacement seeds.
You might have to add an extra plant to your garden or pass the extras to a friend or whatever.
Extras are cool,not having the variety you wanted sucks,so does re germinating stuff only to have green pods at first frost...
 
As a side note,you can inform the vendor that you got immature seeds and explain how you know.
Heck,send them the stuff you candled that were just empty shells. LOL
 
Edit-
An added + is you get something like a sonogram of your baby,you can watch the embryo grow if using the paper towel method.
Watch that rootlet grow.
Pretty cool,kills time,no waiting for hooks.You pretty much can know what is going on.
 
Great tip, I'll be trying this in the next week or two. Thanks for this and all the other info you share. I found your recipe for witches brew last summer when I saw how expensive calmag and other calcium additives were. Had zero calcium issues with my container chiles and tomatoes and saved a bunch of money by making the brew. Will be using it again this summer, already have a couple of gallons mixed up.
 
This is a fantastic tip, smokemaster! I also use the paper towel method simply because I like to see what's going on at all times. When I started germinating this year, I put 3-4 seeds of each in paper towels. After doing that with 3 varieties, i ended up with extras of all 3. Lol. So I have just been putting one seed at a time in. But you're right about being able to notice a bad seed earlier than waiting on sprouts. I've noticed good seeds seem to puff up while bad seeds are more translucent after just a few hours to one day in a paper towel. Now I just have to train my eye to pick out the bad seeds prior to soaking. :)
 
I've candled bird and reptile eggs for years, but never once thought I could do it with seeds. Will have to give this a try.  
 
Scorched said:
Great tip, I'll be trying this in the next week or two. Thanks for this and all the other info you share. I found your recipe for witches brew last summer when I saw how expensive calmag and other calcium additives were. Had zero calcium issues with my container chiles and tomatoes and saved a bunch of money by making the brew. Will be using it again this summer, already have a couple of gallons mixed up.
Click to expand...
And where is this recipe now?
Can't find it with my apparently limited searching skills
 
Good idea! But, I've had tiny, brown, weird looking seeds turn out to be great plants. Conversely, ripe big seeds that look to have good embryos sometimes fail. While I "eyeball" for the best seeds, I still rely on the plant more than you need method. When I started, I kept everything that sprouted but now cull the weak.
 
It's just another possible tool in the toolbox.
 
I too , never toss seeds.
But if I see empty shells I put an extra seed in to replace what looks to be a bad seed or seeds.
 
Don't soak here but may have to start. I get great germ rates with my seed, but if I didn't collect it hit or miss. Soaking seeds from other sources sounds like a good plan here.
 
I just heard about this last week somewhere else. I soaked my seeds for about 8 hrs.(too long?) Then I put them on a piece of plastic wrap and on top of a flashlight. I saw some that had nothing in them but what am I looking for exactly? Sorry for the newbie question but trying to learn from you all. Thanks for the info.
 
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