This is new...

...think I can use a spoon and strainer, or will that damage the soaked seeds? The thought of tweezing each one might be just enough to push me over the edge.

What kind of seeds are they?

They're Abronia villosa, Anne.

Maybe I could simulate their natural dehusking method by soaking and then shaking in a bag of sand...

I was able to find pictures of the seeds and one picture that might help you in identifying the important parts (complicated little things) - in looking at it, I'm thinking an exacto knife or nail clippers would do it easy after soaking ... how many do you need to do?

I usually do half of what I have...maybe 20 seeds or so? I'm hoping for just a few plants to experiment with, but I'd much rather have too many than none at all.

I'll try one with nail clippers...and maybe have a bag of sand on hand as well.

(Hmmm...I have aquarium gravel handy as well...maybe that would do.)

The picture reminds me of a begonia pod, but the seeds I have are much firmer than those.

I know nothing about the plant, except that it is adorable.

I did find this photo and an excerpt from their "Processing Seeds" pdf.

http://www.hazmac.biz/040209/0...

"Fruit: Achene, 9.0–12.0 mm, winged
Seed: enclosed within the hard indehiscent fruit

Rub fruits over medium screen.
Blower speed: 2.0 to remove chaff.
Higher blower speeds required to sort out lighter sterile
fruits. Some hand sorting to remove pedicels"

(Wall, M. and J. Macdonald. 2009. Processing Seeds of California Native Plants for Conservation, Storage,
and Restoration. Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Occasional Publication, Number 10, Claremont, CA.
216 pages.
ISBN 978-0-9819717-0-4. First printing: 70 copies, August 2009. Copyright © 2009 by Rancho Santa Ana
Botanic Garden.)

I guess that's an alternate method to try.

Good Luck! It's is a very cute plant!

That's a really nice image, too. There's a bigger seed in there than I thought I'd find.

I think I'll try a few dry with the spoon and screen first...hopefully tomorrow.

Thanks for the luck, too! I'm going to need it growing a desert plant in Indiana! If it's fast enough to beat the onset of hot humidity I'll be overjoyed.

They kinda look like my Stigmaphyllon littorale seeds - same type of form ... What I did was soak them then took an exacto knife, made a slice down one side and just pulled it open.

As long as this is for yourself, I'm not sure why you need to separate the seed. I'm not familiar with this species or if separation is recommended. But, there doesn't seem to be any flesh to inhibit germination.

If it were me, I would separate 5 or 10, for my curiosity and comparison, but plant most of the seed and chaff together.

Me too. I'm lazy.

Karen

I only soaked mine and got decent germination. The plants resented the humid heat here and did not do well. If I ever try them again I will treat them as I do Cleome lutea and see if they respond.

Thanks Alana. That was what I was hoping to do with these... jump off to a fast start so that they can (hopefully) finish before August.