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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Seedball storage and seed fertility

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  • From: Paul Cereghino <paul.cereghino@comcast.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Seedball storage and seed fertility
  • Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 21:54:22 -0700

The potential for loss of seed viability would likely be from the wetting that occurs during manufacture and whether the duration of wetting is sufficient to break seed dormancy. The trick would be for the seed to remain as dry as possible, and for the coated seed to dry out as quickly as possible following manufacture (without heating that might also degrade the germ.) If your doing the mash through the screen method, I'd do modest batches in dry weather and make sure the pellets air try quickly and thoroughly, and that they remain dry during storage. Robyn's idea for an experiment sounds fun -- I bet species differ.

The ag industry does something called priming, where seed is moistened, brought close to germination, and then the seed is dried and sold. It decreases germination time, reducing the field time where seeds need to be in a good germinating environment. Most sellers say their seed is viable for a year, but don't recommend carrying over. There is also a ton of research on ag priming... the methods sections of peer reviewed papers can offer info on that. An example is pasted below. In general it looks like priming periods are around 8-12 hours, considerably less than the couple hours you'd risk in pellet creation. The use of salt is weird. Might it control the rate of water absorbtion, protracting the emergence from dormancy?

Check out the following site -- priming is also being explored for environments where the natural germination window is narrow.
http://www.seedpriming.org/

--- PASTED ---

FROM http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/43/6/2135#SEC1
*Overview*
A 2-yr experiment was conducted at Washington State University^ (WSU) from August 2000 to July 2002 to determine seed priming^ effects on germination, emergence, and grain yield of winter^ wheat. The study involved laboratory, greenhouse, and field^ components. The two soft white winter wheat cultivars were selected^ on the basis of their strong (Edwin) and moderate (Madsen) emergence^ capabilities. Edwin (Jones et al., 2000 <http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/43/6/2135#BIB17>) is standard height^ with club-type spike and long coleoptile, whereas Madsen (Allan et al., 1989 <http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/43/6/2135#BIB1>)^ is semidwarf with common-type spike and medium-length^ coleoptile.^

Newly harvested, untreated foundation seed was used both years.^ In August of 2000 and 2001, 250 g of seed of both cultivars^ was placed in 42 individual nylon net bags and immersed in liquid^ priming media. The seven priming media were: (i) water; (ii)^ 2% KCl (w/v); (iii) 4% KCl (w/v); (iv) 0.5% KH_2 PO_4 (w/v); (v)^ 1% KH_2 PO_4 (w/v); (vi) 10% PEG 8000 (v/v); and (vii) 20% PEG^ 8000 (v/v). All priming media were prepared in distilled water.^

Seed was fully immersed in priming media at a temperature of^ 24°C for durations of 12, 24, and 36 h. The 24- and 12-h^ treatments were immersed 12 and 24 h after the first batch,^ respectively, so that all seed was removed from priming media^ at the same time. A nontreated check for both cultivars was^ also included. All seed was then rinsed thoroughly with distilled^ water and lightly hand dried using blotting paper. While still^ damp, seed (including check) was treated with [difenoconazole^ (R)-{(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-methoxyacetylamino}] propionic acid^ methyl ester fungicide at a rate of 0.65 mL kg^-1 seed, then^ allowed to dry on paper towels at room temperature (24°C)^ until seed water content was 120 g kg^-1 as measured with a grain^ moisture meter. Seed was stored at 24°C.

Paul Cereghino, Olympia, WA

Robyn Francis wrote:

One of the key ideas behind seedballing is that they can be broadcast out in
readiness for the rain, even if that rain isn't expected for 6-8 months. If
there's concerns about potential insect damage, you can mix some pyrethrum
powder into the clay.
Maybe your group could experiment - spread half the seed ball when they're
made and the other half after the rains have begun and compare results for
future projects.
Robyn


On 19/10/06 4:08 AM, "Sharon Gordon" <gordonse@one.net> wrote:


Does anyone have experience with longterm seed ball storage and subsequent
seed fertility ? There is a group wanting to make them in advance and store
them up to 6-8 months until the rainy season. This is project involving
thousands of people and millions of seedballs, hence the long lead time
desired.

Sharon
gordonse@one.net
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