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seeds EXPERIMENTAL GERMINATION will seeds from frozen pods germinate

RocketMan

RocketMan

Ok, I picked up some frozen pods from the Spanish Market here the other day and saved some seeds from them before I put them into a Fermentation. I have the seeds set out to dry but as I dont know how long they have been frozen or how long it was before they were packaged, I decided to pull out 3 seed from each and do a test germination. This will involve a 24 hour soak in plain water then on to coffee filters and into caped pill bottles.

Pics:

Aji Amarillo Seeds
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Red Rocoto Seeds
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In the bottles
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This time tomorrow they'll go onto the coffee filters and back into the bottles.

So has anyone ever tried this before? Just curious if seeds from frozen pods will germinate. I would think so as the seeds in the world seed bank are kept at some really cold temps but I have no idea as to how they're processed and I'm pretty sure that they're not stored as whole pods.

Cheers,
RM
 
Some seeds break dormancy after freezing (because that means winter is over and its ok to sprout) but chile originated in warmer climates, so I doubt that they would respond in that way. And they may never have developed a tolerance to being frozen...so like meinchoh said, freezing could damage them. We shall see soon enough if your seeds germinate
 
What do you think about seeds from a sealed package of dried chiles?

So far I haven't had any success getting them to germinate. I'm concerned maybe they were irradiate as part of the food handling process, or perhaps the anoxic conditions of the sealed bag could have rendered them unviable as well.

And what about seeds from pickled chiles (in vinegar)? So far the only Tabasco seeds I have found have been in a jar of pickles Tabasco peppers (other than purchasing off-line of course).
 
I've planted seeds from frozen pods before. Some sprouted, some didn't. I think it will have a negative impact on your germination rates, but I think you'll at least get a few sprouts. Keep us posted!
 
3 seeds each spent 24 hours in plain tap water. After 24 hours I planted in a mix of:

MG Garden mix - 45%
MG Potting soil - 45%
Starbucks Grounds for Gardens - 10%

Seeds were planted into a Solo Cup 1/4 inch deep and 1 inch apart.
No pics taken at this point I'll post some as soon as I see some growth.

Cheers,
RM
 
HwyBill said:
What do you think about seeds from a sealed package of dried chiles?

So far I haven't had any success getting them to germinate. I'm concerned maybe they were irradiate as part of the food handling process, or perhaps the anoxic conditions of the sealed bag could have rendered them unviable as well.
Click to expand...

Irradiation probably isn't the problem, drying the peppers in an oven prior to packaging them probably is.
 
I found them in the frozen food section at the local Spanish foods market imported from Peru. Thanks.

So far nothing had pushed through but it hasn't even been a full 7 day week yet.
 
Well, as of today it's been 9 days as of today and nothing has poked through yet. This is just an update, I'm not giving up on them yet as some seeds take longer than others. More in another week or so.

RM
 
Freezing won't always damage seeds. I've read about a lot of people who freeze their seeds to extend their viability, although I've never tried it myself. I can't see any reason why freezing would destroy the seeds as some varieties grew in environments where the winters would get as cold as your freezer. Doesn't make sense that this would kill the seed. It might depend on the variety and conditions in which the seed/pod was frozen.

I always figured vinegar would kill the seeds for sure as would oven-drying. That would denature important parts of the seed. But I might have a fun germination experiment to try out now :cool: . Keep us updated on whether or not this works! I would wait at least 20 days before you give up, some seeds take even longer than that.
 
mrz1988 said:
Freezing won't always damage seeds. I've read about a lot of people who freeze their seeds to extend their viability, although I've never tried it myself. I can't see any reason why freezing would destroy the seeds as some varieties grew in environments where the winters would get as cold as your freezer. Doesn't make sense that this would kill the seed. It might depend on the variety and conditions in which the seed/pod was frozen.

I always figured vinegar would kill the seeds for sure as would oven-drying. That would denature important parts of the seed. But I might have a fun germination experiment to try out now :cool: . Keep us updated on whether or not this works! I would wait at least 20 days before you give up, some seeds take even longer than that.
Click to expand...

lol. I'm sitting here thinking...ooh, freezing might hurt them, then reading your post and thinking...hell, I dry my seeds in temps on my deck that must approach 115-120F. How could an oven on low temp hurt 'em! :)

Obviously would have to be a *very* low temp.
 
One is successful. The Aji Amarillo had 2 little ones up this morning out of the 3 seeds planted in the cup.

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Still waiting for the Rocoto to come up, but 2 out of 3 aint bad. Thinking that now that the rest of the seeds have had some time to dry I might try germinating a second set of seeds and see if they do any better.

RM
 
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