Seed Salvaging

[JohnAndSancho]

Y'all remember a couple months ago when I snatched that MASSIVE palmetto inflourecense, and it was full of seed weevils? And I stuck it in the freezer for way too long? 

 

Welp I thawed it. And soaked them in water and extra peroxide. I knew there was gonna be some funk involved. I scooped off the floaters from the top. The water turned black. I don't know if it's the peroxide killing the funk, or extra funk, but there's.... Let's just say these don't smell pleasant, it's a peroxide and vinegar stink. These are not rare high demand plants but I wouldn't mind growing another 20 or 30 but I ain't gonna lie. I don't wanna clean them but I also don't want community pots full of rot. So do I just but up and get the bottle of Purell and try and squeeze out a few dozen hard seeds or are the chances of germination so slim at this point that I just chuck them in the woods and let nature run its course and wait to get rarer Sabals? 

[happypalms]

5 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Y'all remember a couple months ago when I snatched that MASSIVE palmetto inflourecense, and it was full of seed weevils? And I stuck it in the freezer for way too long? 

 

Welp I thawed it. And soaked them in water and extra peroxide. I knew there was gonna be some funk involved. I scooped off the floaters from the top. The water turned black. I don't know if it's the peroxide killing the funk, or extra funk, but there's.... Let's just say these don't smell pleasant, it's a peroxide and vinegar stink. These are not rare high demand plants but I wouldn't mind growing another 20 or 30 but I ain't gonna lie. I don't wanna clean them but I also don't want community pots full of rot. So do I just but up and get the bottle of Purell and try and squeeze out a few dozen hard seeds or are the chances of germination so slim at this point that I just chuck them in the woods and let nature run its course and wait to get rarer Sabals? 

Chuck em in the compost and wait and see!

[JohnAndSancho]

30 minutes ago, happypalms said:

Chuck em in the compost and wait and see!

I think I'll just dump some in community pots and hope for the best. I'm doing a bokashi compost soil factory so it's a little different than your traditional compost heap. 

[happypalms]

4 hours ago, JohnAndSancho said:

I think I'll just dump some in community pots and hope for the best. I'm doing a bokashi compost soil factory so it's a little different than your traditional compost heap. 

Sounds Japanese to me bokashi, if the Sabal was to see snow and be frozen then I would say there a for sure germinate them, but them little embryos have been frozen so not looking to good. 

[JohnAndSancho]

16 hours ago, happypalms said:

Sounds Japanese to me bokashi, if the Sabal was to see snow and be frozen then I would say there a for sure germinate them, but them little embryos have been frozen so not looking to good. 

Bokashi is actually Korean. It's an anaerobic form of compost where you seal your food scraps up and sprinkle this "bran" on top of it that contains molasses and brown sugar and the active bacteria from yogurt to break everything down. It doesn't rot, it ferments - then you either dig a trench and bury it 2 feet deep or make a "soil factory" like I'm doing, I added a bag of cheap compost and a bag of cheap potting soil and some worm castings and the active bacteria in the soil further break it all down. I like it because you can put anything in it - meat, fat, chicken bones, pasta, whatever - the bones obviously take much longer to break down but it def breaks down in a few months. You'll see a lot of white mold (which is actually good in the soil) and as long as you keep stirring it regularly and don't let it get too wet, the stink isn't too overpowering. It actually just smells like dirt until I go to stir it. Sometimes it generates a liquid from the chemical breakdown, and if you dilute the liquid like 1:100 it's a powerful fertilizer and if you don't dilute it, it's gonna kill whatever you pour it on. Since it's all airtight and anaerobic it doesn't stink like traditional compost. Great for household kitchen scraps and the bran isn't too expensive, you can actually make your own but I paid like $25 for a 5 pound bag and that bag lasts a good while, even with my heavy hand. My first batch smelled like banana bread until I put it in the soil bin and sealed it up. Leave some airflow for the humidity to escape and you're good. I'm gonna have some very very happy plants in a couple months. 

 

Anyway, the Sabals I got these seeds from have seen snow and ice. The palmettos? I probably left them in the freezer for way too long but if I only get 20 or 30 more that's fine. The minors should be cool, I need to take them out of the freezer tonight. They've all seen single digits.