Hi All,
Sometimes my seeds will germinate and manage to poke 3 or 4mm above the soil line, but the seed case stays on.
Despite my efforts to help soften the case so it can come off by itself, this doesn't seem to happen, and the seedling stops growing.
So, when manually removing the seed case, the cotyldons inside seem to be incredibly weak or withered to nothing. I guess that's why they stop growing - they don't have the energy to do any more than they already have.
The end result is that the seedling is a failure.
Every single time this happens, it seems to be because the seed has been placed in the soil with the "radicle" downwards.
( http://www.seedbiology.de/images/pepper.gif - that's where I have got the term from ).
My interpreation is that the radicle becomes the root stem which goes straight down in the soil, pushing the seed case out in minimum time so it perhaps doesn't get enough moisture and thus soften enough to come off by itself ?!
So, the question is this (and before I ask it, I understand most people will *probably* not look into things with this much detail especially when they are sowing dozens or hundred or thousands of seeds):
Is there an optimum position for seed placement ? Keep reading ....
When they do germinate, my sister-in-law calls them "knuckles", but I've read on this forum that people also call them "hooks".
It further seems to me that the best knuckles come about when the radicle points upward, since the new root has to come up and then turn down into the soil. All this time, the seed casing is in the mix, softening up so it can come off easily when it breaks the surface
So, perhaps I have answered my own question - where time and effort permits, sow the seeds with the radicle upwards ?
Does anybody have thoughts on the matter ?
Regads,
Tim
PS - the reason I ask is that I have about 40 new superhot hybrid seeds to sow and I'd love them to have the *best* chance of germinating well and surviving
Sometimes my seeds will germinate and manage to poke 3 or 4mm above the soil line, but the seed case stays on.
Despite my efforts to help soften the case so it can come off by itself, this doesn't seem to happen, and the seedling stops growing.
So, when manually removing the seed case, the cotyldons inside seem to be incredibly weak or withered to nothing. I guess that's why they stop growing - they don't have the energy to do any more than they already have.
The end result is that the seedling is a failure.
Every single time this happens, it seems to be because the seed has been placed in the soil with the "radicle" downwards.
( http://www.seedbiology.de/images/pepper.gif - that's where I have got the term from ).
My interpreation is that the radicle becomes the root stem which goes straight down in the soil, pushing the seed case out in minimum time so it perhaps doesn't get enough moisture and thus soften enough to come off by itself ?!
So, the question is this (and before I ask it, I understand most people will *probably* not look into things with this much detail especially when they are sowing dozens or hundred or thousands of seeds):
Is there an optimum position for seed placement ? Keep reading ....
When they do germinate, my sister-in-law calls them "knuckles", but I've read on this forum that people also call them "hooks".
It further seems to me that the best knuckles come about when the radicle points upward, since the new root has to come up and then turn down into the soil. All this time, the seed casing is in the mix, softening up so it can come off easily when it breaks the surface
So, perhaps I have answered my own question - where time and effort permits, sow the seeds with the radicle upwards ?
Does anybody have thoughts on the matter ?
Regads,
Tim
PS - the reason I ask is that I have about 40 new superhot hybrid seeds to sow and I'd love them to have the *best* chance of germinating well and surviving
classic !
