dioptase
Veteran Member
This spring I bought a 6-pack of 'Salanova Red Butter' lettuce from the nursery. DH and I really liked it, so I let it go to seed and harvested the seeds, drying them for maybe a week or so at room temperature before packing them into a coin envelope. I've been trying to start some of them (for the fall garden) and have been having terrible germination, easily < 33%. (I usually sow at least 3 seeds per 6-pack cell; I only have 5 seedlings up after a couple of weeks.)
Recalling the trick about using an H2O2 soak for "old" seeds, I soaked some of the seeds in H2O2 this morning, and then planted them into the empty cell in the 6-pack. I am hoping for at least ONE seed to germinate and give me a plant, though really, if these were seeds I had bought and/or had stored in my fridge, the germination would be much better than that.
The only thing that I can think of (I can't believe the room temperature is a factor, we have a/c) is that maybe the freshly harvested lettuce seeds need some sort of dormancy period/cold period before they will germinate.
Does anyone have any experience with trying to germinate freshly harvested (but then dried) seed? Do you get good results? Are any special tricks needed?
Recalling the trick about using an H2O2 soak for "old" seeds, I soaked some of the seeds in H2O2 this morning, and then planted them into the empty cell in the 6-pack. I am hoping for at least ONE seed to germinate and give me a plant, though really, if these were seeds I had bought and/or had stored in my fridge, the germination would be much better than that.
The only thing that I can think of (I can't believe the room temperature is a factor, we have a/c) is that maybe the freshly harvested lettuce seeds need some sort of dormancy period/cold period before they will germinate.
Does anyone have any experience with trying to germinate freshly harvested (but then dried) seed? Do you get good results? Are any special tricks needed?