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seeds Seed disinfection treatments

boutros

boutros

I did a search for for the above title and came up with nothin'.

I am wondering if any of you use or have used the NMSU Chile Pepper Institute's seed treatment solution(s)- here's a bit of copy/paste-

Seed Disinfection Treatments
Certified seed must have a negative lab test for bacterial leaf spot disease or be treated
with sodium hypochlorite. Seed producers should take the following steps after seed crops
are harvested:
• Extracted seed should be soaked in a 3% sodium hypochlorite solution at 50º-75ºF
(10º-25ºC) for no longer than 20 minutes to disinfect seed from diseases, such as bacterial
leaf spot (Khah and Passam, 1992).
• Keep the soaking solution clean and free from dirt and organic matter.
• Household bleach usually contains about 5% sodium hypochlorite. Do not use bleach
products that contain ingredients other than sodium hypochlorite, such as sodium
hydroxide or fragrances.
• To make a 3% sodium hypochlorite solution from household bleach, mix three parts
plain household bleach with two parts water. To avoid seed damage, do not soak seed
longer than 20 minutes. An alternate recommendation is to soak seeds in a 1% sodium
hypochlorite solution for 40 minutes (Goldburg, 1995). Mix 20% household bleach with
80% water (one part bleach to four parts water) to make a 1% solution

I have a couple plants in the lower yard that had some issues with bacterial spot. I wanted to save some seed from some of these plants but don't want to keep any of said bacteria around. I'm not a math wiz, but the above ratios for the two mixes seem dissimilar. I have used the 3 part bleach/2 part water for 20 min before and it has not affected germination adversely as far as I can tell with my experimentation. I have used this formula on dry seed immediately before sowing. Now I am using this solution on newly harvested seed in question prior to any drying as a pretreatment before storing until this coming January.

I am looking for any additional suggestions or input from anyone upon the practice of seed disinfection. Thanks!

btw- Disclaimer- none of these seeds in question are used for trades and such with any of ya. Wouldn't be cool in my book- disinfected or not!
 
Agreed. The 3% and 1% mix ratios def still seem squirrelly to me to. The pdf I copied it from has been chillin on the institute's site for a long while though.
 
Does anyone know if this method works for plants that are known to be infected or if it is just a preventive measure? Can you take a plant that was grown from infected seed, grow it out to maturity, bleach the seeds and eradicate the disease in the next generation? I suspect seeds from heavily hit plants may not be salvageable.

Also, does anyone know if you can disinfect old seeds before planting, or must this be done immediately after seed harvest?

I've just been hit pretty hard with BLS and I want to make sure it's gone for next year.
 
Unless you have a very exclusive variety like a cross or hybrid you made yourself I don't really see the point of even trying. Buy new seeds and burn your soil.
 
Just a warning with Clorox bleach if you try this. They add polyacrylic acid to cut down on the sodium hypochlorite percentage, but the amount displayed on the bottle is correct, it was done as a cost saving measure. This acid is an additive in radiator/cooling system cleaners for cars. But it does increase the whitening power of their bleach.
 
ZanderSpice said:
Can you take a plant that was grown from infected seed, grow it out to maturity, bleach the seeds and eradicate the disease in the next generation?

Also, does anyone know if you can disinfect old seeds before planting, or must this be done immediately after seed harvest?
Click to expand...

First question, I hope so! For the second, I have treated dry seed sent to me for the recommended 20 min. (3% solution) I germinated treated and untreated seed under the same exact conditions at the same time and noticed no difference between the two different groups.


Thanks to everybody for your input. Special thanks to SS for confirmation on the math and ratio crap. I ran with it and eventually worked it out. (I think) I guess I shoulda done math in high school instead of reading skate mags and having chicks do my tests for me, lol.
 
MrArboc, as you've suggested, I will be starting over from fresh seed next season. I have just a couple that I might not be able to replace and they seem to be pretty resistant to the leaf spot. I think I'm going to try and save them.

Boutros, are you destroying all your spotted plants? Yesterday I cleared out a few and many more will go this weekend. I have a few plants left that I think may be salvageable or at least give me a good harvest before they are culled. I'm keeping a close eye on them and will hit them with some liqui-cop and sulfur to try and stop the spread.

Do you know what caused your outbreak? I'm not 100% mine came in by seed. There's a nearby tree that has leaf spot, but I don't know if it's the same type as on my peppers. This year my garden was packed really tight so I think that helped the spread due to poor air circulation and increased humidity.
 
http://ipm.uconn.edu/documents/raw2/Bacterial%20Leaf%20Spot%20of%20Peppers/Bacterial%20Leaf%20Spot%20of%20Peppers.php?aid=67
 
https://ag.umass.edu/services/hot-water-seed-treatment
 
I know this is an old thread but I thought Id comment on it. This year I am going to use the hot water treatment on my seeds to ensure that there is no spread of BLS, My plants are clean except for one, so I am going to clean them all to make sure that they wont have a chance of spreading. Has anyone tried this method before?
 
Holy 9 year-old thread batman! None of the previous posters have logged in for over 2 years...

I haven't tried hot water sterilization, but I've recently read some similar articles about it that also tested dipping in heated peroxide for a few minutes. One thing you might look into if you're going to try this: before the treatment, humidify your seeds to at least 10% moisture content to reduce chances of imbibitional injury.
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/faculty/davies/pdf%20stuff/ph%20final%20galley/Chap%207-%20M07_DAVI4493_00_SE_C07.pdf
Good luck.
 
dragonsfire said:
Food grade Peroxide is all you need, I add that to all my sprouting, also speeds up the sprouting since its oxygen rich.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by add that to all my sprouting?

Do you use peroxide in place of water, or a small ratio? I germinate in rockwool cubes in a humidity dome - if I wanted to add peroxide next year, how would I go about doing that?
 
Thanks for the replys Ill look into the heated peroxide, I just read that it needs to hit that 122 degrees to kill potential bacteria just beyond the seed coat. Can the peroxide penetrate deep into the seed like that?
 
austin87 said:
What do you mean by add that to all my sprouting?

Do you use peroxide in place of water, or a small ratio? I germinate in rockwool cubes in a humidity dome - if I wanted to add peroxide next year, how would I go about doing that?
Click to expand...
Recommendations usually err on the safe side: 1tsp/cup water or 1 tbsp/pint
I've done 1 part peroxide to two parts water.

JohnnysGotTheHeat said:
Thanks for the replys Ill look into the heated peroxide, I just read that it needs to hit that 122 degrees to kill potential bacteria just beyond the seed coat. Can the peroxide penetrate deep into the seed like that?
Click to expand...
The perox is supposed to degrade the seed coat, making it more permeable so that the embryo can get oxygen easily.
 
Interesting, Ill have to test multiple methods and see which has better results. Im sure degrading the seed coat would have benefits at a cost, would probably need some really nice seed storage.
I was considering vacuum sealed, but I would need the seeds to dry enough.
 
JohnnysGotTheHeat said:
Interesting, Ill have to test multiple methods and see which has better results. Im sure degrading the seed coat would have benefits at a cost, would probably need some really nice seed storage.
I was considering vacuum sealed, but I would need the seeds to dry enough.
Click to expand...
I'd do it before planting vs before storing. I usually don't even swish seeds around in h2o2 or anything before storing and instead do it when I start the seeds.
 
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