CULT: Broken Stalks,Sugar Water, Potato

<<One (Edith) I put in sugar water developed 3 pods of good  looking seeds.
>>

I haven't contributed much tio this group but I do have first hand personal
information in this area.  I have for many years used the sugar water to save
sed pods that have been snapped off accidently. We have the last of six pods
ripening in the kitchen window as I write this. All pods ripened in this way
in previous years have yielded seeds that germinated normally and I don't
anticipate that this year will be any different.

Procedure: I take a small tumbler and fill it to about 1/2 inch from the top.
I then dissolve as much cane sugar as the water will hold (until a small
amount remains on the bottom of the glass). I then take a piece of aluminum
foil  and fold it in half twice so that it can be wrapped over the top of the
tumbler as a cover. With a suitable implement (I use a ball-point pen) punch a
hole in the center of the aluminum cover. Insert the broken stalk into the
opening and put the tumbler on a north facing window.  If the stalk is too
long for the tumbler cut it so that the bottom of the stalk (cut at an angle
under running water) is a little way from the bottom. I have found that the
pod ripened in this fashion will ripen in the same length of time had it
remained attatched to the plant.

I tried the potato method just one time. The potato developed rot and ruined
the pod because I wasn't paying enough attention.  I don't have to worry about
the pods in the sugar solution.

I hope that you will find this useful..

Dave Silverberg

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