RE: Romneya coulteri propagation
- To: M*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: RE: Romneya coulteri propagation
- From: R* F* D*
- Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2001 10:18:39 -0500 (EST)
At 09:47 AM 1/2/2001, you wrote:
>Heheh...yeah it crossed my mind for a second that someone might think you
>were supposed to light it all on fire but dismissed it. Don't set it on
>fire, just soak and wash them off. :) My friend had asked an English
>nurseryman (who had flats and flats of Romneya seedlings), and learned the
>method. When he got home he ordered a big lot of Romneya seed and when they
>came he put it in the gasoline and went out for a second while they soaked.
>About an hour later he remembered...ran back in in a panic and washed them
>off. They all came up.
>
>bob
Bob:
This definitely sounds like a solvent effect. I'm sure there are less risky
solvents than gasoline, like rubbing alcohol (70% isopropanol in water) or
acetone. Gasoline has a lot of additives, and most of these would be
detrimental.
If anyone has seed to spare, they could try an experiment with solvents like
paint thinner and paint cleaner. These are complex mixtures containing
solvents of varying potency like toluene and dichloromethane. Outside of
exposure risk of the experimenter and seeds to chemicals (and gasoline is a
mixture of chemicals), the results might be enlightening. But hopefully,
not from flames!
As an organic chemist working in a laboratory, I would start out at extreme
ends, like isopropanol (a very polar solvent) and petroleum ether (a very
non-polar solvent), since these are the most benign to life. Then I would
progressively work to more powerful solvents like acetone, toluene, and even
dimethl sulfoxide (DMSO), although the latter is likely to be lethal to seeds.
Richard F. Dufresne
313 Spur Road
Greensboro, North Carolina 27406 USA
336-674-3105
World of Salvias web page:
http://www.eclectasy.com/gallery_of_salvias/index.htm
or
http://home.infinet.mindspring.com/~salvia/salvia.htm (to be phased out)
