• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

Sprouting with their "hemets" on

AL C.

AL C.

Sprouting with their "helmets" on

O.k. not quite, but once in a while it happens where the seed sprouts and the seed comes out of the soil and the plant never escapes.
I had 2 of my vietnamese peppers come up this way. I left them for several days and last night attempted to do surgery.
My surgery method was pretty fast. I took a pair of scissors and cut the top part of the seed just a little.
I could see green in both last night.
One still looks that way and maybe I'll get lucky. The other is no longer green, but black and I think I saw a little grim reaper hanging around him.
Just wondering what some of the others do in this situation.
:?:
 
It happens. It seems to be common if the seeds were too shallow.

I would like to know if anyone has good success with surgery. I think Dale had said that he did.
 
I've gotten real good at seed surgery. It just takes patience and if in doubt leave the seed casing on. A pair of good sharp pointy scissors is my tool of choice along with a little sprayer with water.
 
I just leave the seedling on the plant. I dont think its worth risking damaging or possibly killing the seedling because of the way it looks etc. If you leave it on, it will still grow new leaves regardless and eventually will fall off
 
Ya but they'll often be slower than the other "hatless" plants and they sometimes die. I just removed some stubborn seed casing where the plants had totally grown around the fused leaves, and still wouldn't let go of the hull without surgery.
 
My method is kinda "rougher" because I let the seed husk dry out as dry and it can get, take a pair of tweezers and grasp it on both "seams" of the seed....then squeezing gently until the husk breaks but not too hard to mash the leaves inside...I have had good luck this way...sometimes just squeezing the husk without breaking it is enough to free the cotyledons...
 
Right now I have about twenty of em wearing thier hats I've been pulling them off like crazy the last couple of days. Just wait until you can see the cotyledons peeking out of the bottom ,keep it moist and just pull slowly if part of the leaves get pulled off it's no big deal they will grow. If the leaves are totally encased just keep it moist and give it some time. I use fingernail clippers and hold the seedling up to the light and cut around the leaves and in a couple days it usually comes free. Keep them moist.

Dale
 
I used to try and carefully get the hat off but ended up decapitating too many. I leave well alone now, except occassionally when I've had a beer or four then I can't resist fiddling and they almost certainly end up dead then :(
 
in my pre-soaking days i would just use my fingers and pull the hulls apart, i was pretty good at it (as long as i didn't drink too much coffee that day... that was a lesson to learn...) but i haven't had this problem at all since i started pre-germinating my seeds in a paper towel.
 
I use the paper towel method too but every year there are certain varieties that are stubborn for some reason and leave their hemets on.
 
AlabamaJack said:
My method is kinda "rougher" because I let the seed husk dry out as dry and it can get, take a pair of tweezers and grasp it on both "seams" of the seed....then squeezing gently until the husk breaks but not too hard to mash the leaves inside...I have had good luck this way...sometimes just squeezing the husk without breaking it is enough to free the cotyledons...
Click to expand...

AJ, I was downstairs transplanting a few more seedlings and tried your method of getting thier hats off I will using your method it works great I just squeezed them with my fingers though. cudos to you.

Dale
 
one word....
overgardening.

leave them alone !!!
I too have tried to help my plants grow to only end up killing them....
do you guys only plant 2 seeds and hope for the best??
this is the first year I have planted such a small amount of seeds but that is only because I only received 15 of each but most of the time I am seeding hundreds of seed.
 
shayneyasinski said:
one word....
overgardening.

leave them alone !!!
I too have tried to help my plants grow to only end up killing them....
do you guys only plant 2 seeds and hope for the best??
this is the first year I have planted such a small amount of seeds but that is only because I only received 15 of each but most of the time I am seeding hundreds of seed.
Click to expand...

Disagree with overgardening Shayneyasinski...more accurate is over-bored and looking for something to do. I plant at least 5 seeds per variety and have some healthy seedlings so I don't mind if I lose a couple to "overgardening". I figure they may die or get left behind anyway so what the heck.
 
Thread moved. Growing topics go here please.
 
GrumpyBear said:
in my pre-soaking days i would just use my fingers and pull the hulls apart, i was pretty good at it (as long as i didn't drink too much coffee that day... that was a lesson to learn...) but i haven't had this problem at all since i started pre-germinating my seeds in a paper towel.
Click to expand...
Reading this I've just realised that in the last few weeks when I've germinated seeds this way I haven't had any that are hull-bound :)

shayneyasinski said:
do you guys only plant 2 seeds and hope for the best??
Click to expand...

No, just the one seed and pray.
 
shayneyasinski said:
one word....
overgardening.


do you guys only plant 2 seeds and hope for the best??
Click to expand...

Usually 3 or 4 for me. Not to many people here need hundreds of 1 type of plant, that would be overgardening.;)
 
shayneyasinski said:
one word....
overgardening.



leave them alone !!!
I too have tried to help my plants grow to only end up killing them....
do you guys only plant 2 seeds and hope for the best??
this is the first year I have planted such a small amount of seeds but that is only because I only received 15 of each but most of the time I am seeding hundreds of seed.
Click to expand...


Why would you just leave them alone if all they need is a little push to help them catch up with the others? Its not that I do not sow enough seeds (450) to be exact. Now I would call planting over 10 seeds of 1 variety overgardening.

Dale
 
I experimented with some congos I just put in dirt. I clipped a tiny bit around the edges of the seeds. We will see if it makes a difference in germination times and helmet problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top