Natalie said:@christyh, I hope that isn't straight peroxide! You need to mix it with water. I think it's 4 parts water to 1 part peroxide. Not sure though. Maybe it is 5 to 1. I haven't mixed any in a while.
I tested different strengths and they did still germinate in full strength peroxide (meaning the 3% H2O2 from the pharmacy, not the "industrial strength" stuff) but normally people use 1:9 dilution. What I did notice, though, is that the weaker the solution the more actual growth while still in the solution. I didn't grow the germinated seeds on so I don't know if that would have been a permanent effect so I would still recommend going with the typical 1:9 but not weaker than 1:11. I counted them as germinated if I could see the little white nubbin protruding. I perhaps should have waited until the coleorhiza split with the radicle emerged to count them as germinated, as in Dr. Griesbach's experiments. If I was growing them on I don't think I would leave them in the solution past the point at which the first protrusion from the seed coat occurred.
Christy, how long did you soak them for? Most people just leave the seeds in the solution (room temperature and out of the sun) and pick them out as they germinate, or plant them all once they've seen one or two germinate. I don't know how they would respond to different times in the solution, i.e. how many days' soak would suffice.
Regarding your question about the lid, the reason you remove it or otherwise increase ventilation once some have germinated is that the high humidity under the lid puts the already germinated seedlings at risk of damping off (fungal infection). Also, if the seeds were not stratified and therefore germinate over several weeks, your first to germinate may have outgrown the lid (how high is it?) before the others have appeared. Taking the germinated ones out as you did is an option as long as you do it early enough and without damaging them so that it doesn't set them back but I think most people just remove the lid (if there was one). As an aside, do you recall how deep you planted the seeds? Indoors, they should be around twice the depth of the seed. If you plant them deeper it'll be longer before you see growth and they'll also use up more of their stored food to get to the light where they can start photosynthesizing.
Natalie, your seeds were refrigerated longer than I'd remembered so the seed dormancy may have worn off with at least some of them (if they had any in the first place). If you were so inclined at any time to test my theory (hint
) next time you start them you might take a dozen or so seeds and start them at room temperature instead of the fridge and see what happens in comparison to the ones in the fridge.
