Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - [NAFEX] Speeding up pawpaw and persimmon seed germination.

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Jwlehman@aol.com
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Speeding up pawpaw and persimmon seed germination.
  • Date: Tue, 11 May 2010 11:00:58 EDT

The following is expermintal and I don't guarantee your results. Some one who I sent pawpaws seed to wrote and asked wheather they needed be stratified. Here was my answer.

No they do not need to be cold stratified, they were kept in a refrigerator all winter.  I tell you what I have been doing that really seems to work.
Taking a container, I've been using red Folger's coffee plastic containers. Fill it with very hot water, not boiling.  Place the seeds in his hot water and leave them set for about 24 hours.  Then repeat the process about two more days.  If you have a south window where the sun shines after the first or second hot water treatment leave them in the sun where the water will become very warm. The temperature gets up to about 90F. Watch the seeds daily and you will see the eye starting to expand and white showing.  Plant them. 

I have a bag on my office desk of about a dozen seeds that I gave the hot water treatment to then placed them in damp sphagnum moss and forgot about them.  They have been there now about a week and they are germinating and many have root sprouts about .5 inch long. Other lots have done the same.

It seems the very warm water awakens them faster.   This was first told to me by someone in Belgium and I've tried it on pawpaw and persimmon seeds. I tried it with morning glory seed and in 24 hours they expanded so fast they burst like popcorn.

Do this at your own risk.

Jerry


  • [NAFEX] Speeding up pawpaw and persimmon seed germination., Jwlehman, 05/11/2010

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page