Is this a problem? Seed pod is not breaking up
- Thread starter Calvados
- Start date
You might want to gently pry that shell apart, maybe with a couple of tooth picks.
- Thread starter
- #3
Hi Bluenoserjoe. Thanks for your input. Normally, I can knock them off, if they are sticking or only partially open. This looks like a helmet.
I'm nervous. I have no doubt that I will screw this up. Worst case scenarios. What happens if I pull the whole thing off? What happens if I do nothing and it doesn't come off?
Can I give it a couple more days to sort itself out?
I'm nervous. I have no doubt that I will screw this up. Worst case scenarios. What happens if I pull the whole thing off? What happens if I do nothing and it doesn't come off?
Can I give it a couple more days to sort itself out?
Ok, so I just had the same thing happen to one of my girls. The shell lining or cotyledon ? will get stuck together and not open properly. I had to pry these apart as well tearing one in the process. It did survive but was way behind her sisters. Good luck.
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- #5
Update: The patient is out of surgery and has been moved to the ICU. The cotyledon was successfully removed. The methodology employed was the classic “squash it with tweezers to split it and then pick it off” technique.
Close but the cotyledon is the two halves of the seed under the shell. Actually the first two leaves that appear. The photo in msg # 5 that @Calvados just posted shows the two cotyledons. The cotyledons are like a seed embryo and they contain the nutrients that the new plant needs to grow the root and help start the next step. After they finish opening up all the way the first two true leaves will start to pop up.
The seed shell is called the husk but it has been about 50 years since that class so let me look it up.
OK, so far it looks like it is just called the "seed coat" and not the husk. It is the parts which Calvados had to take off. The Coco Coir stuff that so many growers here use in their artificial soil mixes is made from the "seed coat" of a coconut.
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- #7
At this stage of the game you can light one up and sit there and watch the two cotyledon open up before your eyes. I have done it and it almost seems that I can watch them slowly move apart. Don't even need to have the light shining on the new seedling though if they open at night or in the dark they will need some light the next day to help photosynthesis kick in and let them stay green. The leaves turning green and growing is some fantastic stuff to watch.
If the seed is positioned correctly, the friction of the soil should pull the husk off.
Sometimes if they stubborn you can spray them with a hand sprayer with water, it softens it up enough that it either comes off on it's own or makes it easier to knock off with toothpicks (or whatever) in a day or two.
Lightworker81
Well-Known Member
If the seed is positioned correctly, the friction of the soil should pull the husk off.
I didn't know about this. You're supposed to put the seed in the ground with the taproot pointing up? Woops. I've always pointed it down. Learn something new everyday.
This works best if positioning is done right after the seed cracks. Once the taproot is out, it’s anyone’s guess where the bugger will go..
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- #13
Wait. What? I always put the tap root down and that’s the direction it goes.
I germinate them in a wet paper towel and wait until there is a decent sized root.
It appears that the diagram is for planting the seed in one specific direction. I have the feeling that you can wait till the seed coat starts to break to do this. The diagram does not say anything that I noticed about how to position the seed once it starts sprouting. At that point we would probably just plan on planting it with the growing tip of the root pointing down.
I have found that the quickest starts have been with the least disturbance of the taproot. I soak until I see that the hull has split a little along the seam, then immediately plant.
A warm (>75F) medium helps a lot. Use a seed mat if necessary. I get very vigorous starts that way.
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