North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Bernie Nikolai <bnikolai@shaw.ca>]

I have used damp peatmoss for a couple of years in stratifying apple seeds
in the fridge.  It did NOT prevent mold based on my experiences, despite its
reputation.  I did find something that worked very well and  had zero mold
last year.  Firstly I put a cup of sand in a container, and poured over 100%
household bleach until it was an inch over the top of the sand.  Then I
stirred really well, then I rinsed several times with water that had been
boiled in a kettle, stirring a lot at each rinse.  This was the
stratification medium.  For the apple seeds, I just put them in a 90% tap
water 10% household bleach solution for 2 or 3 minutes, stirring.  Then I
rinsed the seeds several times, again using boiled water from a kettle (that
had cooled to room temperature).  Then I just put the seeds in the damp (not
wet) sand in plastic zip loc baggies in the basement fridge, and 2 or 3
months later had about 100% sprouting and absolutely zero fungus.
Bernie Nikolai
Edmonton, Alberta
where winter is here and it hit 5F this morning


At 06:19 PM 10/29/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Edgar
>  I just use about 1/4 teaspoon of bleach to a glass of water to soak the 
>seed in for a few hours. Drain and put in a zip lock bag af sphagnum peat 
>the I have micro waved a little and let cool. Then I put in the lower fridge 
>drawer. I check my stuff every month or so to see if they are OK. If you 
>find mold clean again and do same thing. I have been doing this for at least 
>15 years.
>
>Gordon C. Nofs
>Flint, MI.
>-------------------------------------------
>----Original Message Follows----
>From: Edgar Nutans <marillen@earthlink.net>
>Reply-To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
>To: NAFEX <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
>Subject: [NAFEX] seed preparation help
>Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 19:16:43 -0500
>
>Does anyone out there have practical experience with using mancozeb 
>(Manzate) as a seed treatment for apples/ pears?
>I would like to stratify some seed without having them mold and I noticed 
>that Manzate (which I have on hand) is labelled for seed treatment for some 
>crops.  However, the recommended rate is "0.04-4.32 pounds/ 100 lbs. of 
>seed"!
>First of all that's quite a range and secondly, I only have a few dozen 
>seed.  The Manzate I have is as a 37% solution.  Is the concentration all 
>that critical or would anywhere within the recommended range work?
>
>On a completely unrelated topic, I thought I should warn any NAFEXers who 
>may not have heard of the goings-on at Southmeadow Fruit Gardens. They 
>cashed a check of mine and never delivered the trees a couple of years ago.  
>I tried repeatedly to get them to send the trees by contacting them via 
>email, letter and phone.  They always promised, but never delivered.  Since 
>then, I have reported this problem with fellow fruit enthusiasts, the US 
>Postal Service, the appropriate BBB and the State of Michigan Attorney 
>General.  Many people have had the same thing happen.  Bottom line, unless 
>you are ready to sue for your merchandise, don't order from them.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Edgrrrrr
>
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