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- From: "Richard MURPHY" <murphman108@msn.com>
- To: "nafex" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: [NAFEX] apple seed starting 2 cents
- Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 07:24:21 -0700
Hello Friends;
Here's my apple seed starting experience; good / bad.
Apple seed germination. 14MAR09 R. Murphy
I am fascinated by Tim Inman's apple seed starting method. I am (like him)
convinced the seed coating contains an enzyme that inhibits germination. The
contact time the seed has with moisture is far shorter than the traditional
stratification that I do, and the results Tim gets seem better than mine.
That would suggest that the culprit is not a waterproof seed coat.
I now have a bunch of apple seeds, each
variety isolated from the next. They all were baptized in a 5% Clorox / water
bath for 5 minutes, then rinsed off. They are in small plastic bags with a very
small piece of wet paper towel, and have been in the fridge for 65 days as of
today. Their status:
Golden
Russet: sprouting
Unknown: nothing Williams Pride: sprouting Winter Banana: nothing Special Maine: nothing Opalescent: nothing Pound Sweet: nothing Oxford Black: sprouting Northern Spy: sprouting The 'sprouting' ones have a 1/4" little white tail coming out of them, and
will be planted today, in pots in the house. The rest will go back into the
fridge until they sprout. As you can see, they do not all sprout at once, so it
may not be possible to declare a 'standard stratification period' for all apple
seeds. This results matches last year's planting, where I did a 65 day strat and
just planted all the varieties at once. About half of them did nothing. A few
Cortlands sprouted, a Wolf River (1/10) but ALL the
YELLOW DELICIOUS came up strong!
I will definitely try Tim's method on another sample population of seed this fall, for it sounds much easier than traditional stratification. Murph
PS Here's Tim's method again:
(snipped from his posting Vol 74, issue
35)
Looks real easy, and the results fit the theory. Here's my trick: After researching several sources, I read that there is a
chemical in the seed hull which retards sprouting and germination. It must be
washed away before the seed can sprout. Although stratification is certainly
appropriate, I find that I no longer have to do that. I collect apple seeds all
winter long as I enjoy an evening apple, and pop them into a little glass in the
cupboard over the sink. No cover, no care. When I'm ready for the seeds to
sprout, I begin a 'washing' process. I simply take the little glass out of the
cupboard, fill it with cold water, and put it back into the dark cupboard. I
rinse and repeat every day for about one week. (The books say 3 days, but I just
keep rinsing until the water clears.) If your luck runs like mine, after about 4
days - when the water begins to stay clear - you'll begin to see the little
roots start peeking out. Plant the seeds immediately.
|
-
[NAFEX] apple seed starting 2 cents,
Richard MURPHY, 03/14/2009
-
Re: [NAFEX] apple seed starting 2 more cents,
tanis cuff, 03/14/2009
- Re: [NAFEX] apple seed starting 2 more cents, Lon J. Rombough, 03/14/2009
-
Re: [NAFEX] apple seed starting 2 more cents,
tanis cuff, 03/14/2009
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