Viewing post #1012232 by sooby

DavidLMO said:You can also rub the seeds between 2 pieces of sandpaper gently. For DL I would use 220 grit or so. I often use sandpaper.

Mike Huben used 80 grit aluminum oxide sandpaper in a glass jar and shook the seeds in the jar for one minute in the experiment I mentioned above.

DavidLMO said:Another method to remove hard outer seed shells is to use some chemical. Some use acid, but I never have. I have though used Stump Remover - the main ingredient being Potassium Nitrate. I tried it 2 years ago on an impenetrable seed and it worked. But not as well in that case as using a dremel tool. :-))

If anyone is thinking of trying an acid with daylily seeds my suggestion would be to test it on a very small batch of seeds with which you don't expect to win the Stout Medal In my daylily seed experiments I've tested various methods and a dilute vinegar (acid) treatment appeared to kill the seeds. They certainly didn't germinate anyway. Ditto for a standard hot water treatment. Since the seed coat is not impervious to water that may be why. Daylily seed coats were also found not to contain germination inhibitors (Griesbach).