Soaking seeds

[Patrick]

Hey everyone. As many of you have read, I've got some seeds I'm working with at the moment- Sabal Riverside.

My common practice, as I'm sure many of you do, is to soak the seeds in water before germinating. I realize the benefits to this, but are there any negatives to this- say, soaking the seeds too long? Is it possible to, uh, I guess drown a seed?? I'm just interested to see how long other people soak their seeds in water and if there's any evidence or recommendation against soaking for too long. I usually do 3-4 days with just about everything I try. Thanks & have a great day!

Pat

[quaman58]

Pat,

I always assumed that as long as they didn't soak long enough to have bacteria or fungus start growing, it should be fine. 3-4 days should probably be the max I would think.

Bret

[MattyB]

3-4 days is too long with small seeds I've found. They turn to mush. S. riverside probably dosen't need to be soaked.

[Kris]

Dear Patrick

Hand picked fresh seeds needs socking just for 30 to 45 minutes in mild fungicide,and sabal,especially river side are terrefic germinators..so don't waste time socking them..And i have tried this variety and have got good successes rate.

Wish you all the best

love,

Kris

[Tyrone]

I used to soak for up to a week changing water at 12 hr intervals, but that's pointless IMO now. 24-48 hrs changing water every 12hrs is usually fine. If the seed is hydrated that's all that's necessary. If I have fresh seed I've picked myself, soaking the seed for 24 hrs helps soften the pulp for removal and leach any inhibitors out. Once the coat is removed with freshly picked seed, they just need planting. My aim is to get the seed on the heat ASAP. Needlessly wasting time soaking a seed probably uses up good viability time with imported seed, when you consider how far and how long a time it has taken to get from the parent tree to you.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Phil]

Patrick,

If you get fresh seeds with moist fruit, I think that soaking is not needed. The fruit is designed to keep the seed moist. In such a case, just clean off all the fruit; best to scrub the seeds before planting. If the seeds have been sent to you without fruit from parts unknown, I'd soak them. Or, if you have seeds with dry, withered fruit, I'd soak them after cleaning off that dried fruit. I've found that 24 hours is adquate. Use clean water. I've found that 3 to 4 days with the same water leads to funky water and bubbles from fermenting remnants of fruit. If you change the water, you could do longer than one day but I don't think it's necessary.

Phil

[MattyB]

I soaked some of those small Dypsis seeds (presoniana, commersoniana, soaraneriae, etc...) for 3 days once. They turned into rice. White and mushy....not good.

[Patrick]

Thanks for the responses!

I pulled the seeds & gave them a quick dip in some hydrogen peroxide. They're now cookin' in the "hot box"!

[bgl]

Patrick,

I never soak my seeds, and my experience is that with fresh seeds you'll get excellent germination without soaking them. The ONLY time I have ever soaked seeds was when I received my Tahina seeds earlier this year. I decided to play it "safe", based on recommendations, and soaked some of the seeds (I believe for 2 days). There was absolutely NO difference in germination rates for the soaked ones as opposed to the non-soaked ones.

Bo-Göran

[steve 9atx]

It depends on the seed. Hyphaene petersiana took soaking in a water/mild fungicide solution for three weeks

with daily water changes followed by several more weeks in hot plastic bags with damp sphagnum moss (same

mild fungicide) to sprout. I got 10 of 10 to pop this way. You have to make up for that elephant gut somehow.

Steve

[_Keith]

You find the strangest things when you are looking for something else.

Check out this article on Palm Seed Germination. Really good with some data I have not seen before.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP238