Floating seeds

[basilios]

Recently I purchased some seeds from a european company (not RPS) and I did the water test, which showed a good number of them floating...my question is, are the seeds that fail the test completely useless? Should I get rid of them all, or there is a slight chance that a few of them may still germinate?

Edited April 9, 2010 by basilios

[peachy]

I was taught to discard floating seeds as they are dead and can rot in the germinating medium and infect the healthy seeds. I tend to leave them for 24 hours however as they may be more dehydrated than the others but if they still float after that time I throw them away. I have had this problem with Trachycarpus seeds, 3 different species in 3 seperate orders and up to half of them were floaters and the others just didnt bother to germinate. Quite possibly the dealer doesnt know the age of the seeds the suppliers provide them with. This is an interesting topic you started Basilios and I too would like to know what the more experienced people have to say about the subject

Peachy

[basilios]

My experience is also that some seeds tend to flow for the first couple of hours, then they slowly sink, a process that can last even a whole day. I'm too quite interested to know whether those seeds are viable or not..

[Breadfruit Bill]

Some seeds are distributed by floating, take the coconut for instance. Depending on the species the float test may not accurately determine viability.

[Gileno Machado]

Very few palm species have floating viable seeds, Basilios, unfortunetly...what species are you talking about?

[basilios]

The seeds that kinda inspired me for this topic are livistona chinensis.

[Breadfruit Bill]

They unfortunately should sink during a float test...

Soak them for a few days and change the water regularly, you may find that some sink... Plant the sinkers.

I think if they can germinate a Phoneix seed that was around 2000 years old you should be able to get some floaters to germinate.

[BigBpalms]

I collected about 30 cham. costaricana seeds from a neighbors plant last season and put them in water, after three days and three water changes some still floated (11 of them) as an experiment I put them in seperate containers(floaters and non-floaters) with sprouting mix and on a heat source- got almost 80% germination from the sinkers, and got 4 of the 11 non-sinkers to sprout (just took about 2 months longer)- there is always a chance!

[MattyB]

Make sure all the fiber, fruit, outer shell stuff is cleaned away. Sometimes that can hold bubbles and make them float too.

[John in Andalucia]

Bismarckia have an air cavity surrounding the endocarp, so they may naturally float. Jubaea too, since they are hollow - the endosperm mimicking the coconut.

Bismarckia nobilis seed in cross-section:

[Alberto]

Butia mocrospadix also floats a few weeks after collected but can take years to germinate...

The hybrid seeds of eriospatha x microspadix also floats quickly after cleaned.

[gyuseppe]

3 years ago, I bought seeds of Zamia Vasquezii (sorry-cycad) floated all, but I had a good germination

[Trópico]

Open one of them and check.

[basilios]

What should I expect to see?

[Trópico]

What should I expect to see?

Oh, you'll realize it if it's no good... Just like when you're eating hazelnuts. Generally, white SOLID means healthy whereas gray, black, slimy, moldy, or anything else usually means no good (pay special attention to the embryo).