http://www.super-grow.com/GibberellicAcid.jsp

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried smoke on difficult seeds? I have some seeds I cannot get to break dormancy, after three tries and this sounded very interesting. One suggestion was to put some dried grass or something that would burn quick on top of the pot and set aflame. Then water in the ash. Second was to waft the pot over some smoke like in a fireplace (I like the first idea better) BUT, I also read that Liquid Smoke like you buy in the grocery store would work too.

I am growing SW Natives from seed and usually I have good luck just stratifying but may try one or both of these methods to see if I have any luck on these stubborn ones. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone had tried either of these methods and how well it worked?

CactusGarden,

"I was wondering if anyone has ever tried smoke on difficult seeds? I have some seeds I cannot get to break dormancy, after three tries and this sounded very interesting."

I have not tried smoke on difficult seeds, but the three methods you described don't sound very likely to me, particularly the Liquid Smoke method. But give them a try anyway. I suspect the "smoke" activation that occurs in nature is more likely the effect of a wildfire, which might "cook" or incinerate some seeds, but only roast the seed coats of others.

Last year I purchased some Proboscidea parviflora var. hohokamiana seeds from J. L. Hudson and the catalog says they need warmth to germinate in 1 - 6 months. That was a lot longer than I wanted to wait, so I used an X-Acto knife and some Kelly forceps (to safely hold the seeds) to "surgically" remove the hard white seedcoat of several of the seeds, exposing the little embryos inside. I planted the naked embryos, and the little "Double Devil's Claw" plants were up in four days. Their plants were beginning to bloom when I set them in my garden late last May, after the danger of frost had passed here and the soil was beginning to warm up. They grew to gigantic size, nearly head high, and produced a bountiful crop of their strange pods. I plan to grow more this year by the same method. This year I plan to cross them with the black-seeded two-clawed P. louisianica variety (those "Devil's Claws" grew wild on our farm in northwest Oklahoma when I was a kid). They are both fascinating plants, and they are covered with sticky hairs that trap and kill small insects, raising the question of whether they are carnivorous plants.

I have also had good success planting naked seed embryos of zinnia seeds. I breed zinnias as a hobby, and when I want to get a quick second generation, I gather green seeds from a still living zinnia bloom, surgically expose or remove the embryo, and germinate it indoors in a sterile growing medium.

The living seedcoat of a green seed is impervious to water, so the embryo can't get the water it needs to germinate until that waterproof coat is breached or removed (or eventually dies).

By germinating green naked zinnia embryos, I can accelerate the second generation by a month and grow two generations of zinnias a year outdoors, and by continuing with more zinnias in indoor gardening I can get up to four generations of zinnias per year. That has helped speed up my zinnia breeding hobby.

You might want to try the naked embryo technique on your recalcitrant seeds.

ZM

Another thing I read is that some seeds have a waxy coat and need a lot of rinsing, snow melt or a soak in hydrogen peroxide.

The seeds I am having trouble with are Creosote and Feather Dalea. Both have fuzzy coatings. I think I will order more of the dalea seeds and try what you suggest. I have only done that on hard coated seeds. Good thought.

The thing about the smoke was for seeds that typically germinate after a fire like you said. I think some of these wild seeds might just benefit and its worth a try. Liquid smoke definitely wouldn't cost anything. I sort of want to try the pine needles and flame just to see if it works. I imagine if you don't over-do the flammable material its not a problem with burning the seeds if they are covered in sand. Clay pot would probably be a good idea, don't you think?

CactusGarden,

"Another thing I read is that some seeds have a waxy coat and need a lot of rinsing..."

I am concerned that the zinnias seeds I have saved from zinnias that I have hand pollinated may need some extra cleaning to help avoid seed-borne problems. I have recently purchased an ultrasonic cleaner that I plan to use to clean some of my saved zinnia seeds. Ultrasonic cleaners are used for a variety of things, but cleaning jewelry is probably the most common.

First, I plan to do some tests on some known good commercial zinnia seeds. I will clean them ultrasonically for various periods of exposure in the cleaner, to see if excessive ultrasonic cleaning might actually kill the seeds.

ZM