Seed Germination Techniques
- Subject: Seed Germination Techniques
- From: R* D* <s*@nr.infi.net>
- Date: Sat, 14 Dec 1996 11:19:29 -0500 (EST)
At 01:29 AM 12/14/96 -0800, you wrote:
>Soak the seed in some gasoline for about 15 minutes, then rinse it off and
>plant it. I'm not joking. Learned this in a plant propagation course.
>(don't set it on fire!)
>
>The reason the burning method works is that the volatiles in the smoke
>neutralize/dissolve/whatever the germination inhibitors; the heat has
>nothing to do with it, and too much heat can kill the seeds. The gasoline
>dissolves them as well and they will come up like zinnias.
>
>bob
>
> Bob Beer bbeer@u.washington.edu http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bbeer
Bob:
As an organic chemist, I wonder if it might be the additives in gasoline
that are causing this effect. Some experiments seem in order.
The safety of this process is my main concern, followed by effectiveness.
A safer method might be to substitute 70% isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) or
acetone. The latter is available in paint departments of hardware stores.
While each is flammable, they are more volatile. Their main advantage is
that they can be diluted with water to minimize disposal and risk problems.
Safety is a function of the flash point of these solvents, and anyone
experimenting with this technique should use small quantities to minimize
risks and disposal problems. Unless you have a properly outfitted
laboratory, I wouldn't do these experiments indoors or around other flammble
materials.
Of course, someone should test out their effectiveness. The Romneya sounds
like a good candidate for screening and developing this technique. One set
of experiments might be the determination of effectiveness versus amount of
dilution by water (% germination vs. concentration of acetone or isopropanol
in water).
Norman Deno is the source of my inspiration. He is a former Penn State
organic chemistry professor who has developed a scientific approach to seed
germination, and still has volunteers assisting him with research in this
area. He has published his work in a book, now in its second edition. You
can get it from him at:
Norman C. Deno 814-238-8770
139 Lenor Drive
State College, PA 16801
Rich Dufresne
