After all the recent posts about seeds taking a long time to germinate I
thought I'd share this:
I planted my Butternut Squash seeds on March 12th, putting them in the "warm
room"
By the end of April they hadn't shown, so I potted some fresh seeds.
This morning the originals finally appeared - SEVEN WEEKS later.

i came across this document(link below) when browsing about the
subject.
its a report about an experiment where it was found that cactus seeds
which had been pre heated for a week by a heater at 35degrees sprouted
much more than seeds kept at room temperature or that had been in the
fridge.

very unexpected, usually i hear about the need for cooling seeds in
the fridge not heating them.

http://www.ac-creteil.fr/svt/Doc/Doc...UK/Esthel3.PDF


Sam


"Sue da Nimm" . wrote in message ...
After all the recent posts about seeds taking a long time to germinate I
thought I'd share this:
I planted my Butternut Squash seeds on March 12th, putting them in the "warm
room"
By the end of April they hadn't shown, so I potted some fresh seeds.
This morning the originals finally appeared - SEVEN WEEKS later.

In article , Sam
writes
i came across this document(link below) when browsing about the
subject.
its a report about an experiment where it was found that cactus seeds
which had been pre heated for a week by a heater at 35degrees sprouted
much more than seeds kept at room temperature or that had been in the
fridge.

very unexpected, usually i hear about the need for cooling seeds in
the fridge not heating them.

Depends on the seeds, doesn't it? Cacti grow in hot dry areas, so are
probably quite happy being heated. Not quite sure why it *improved*
germination - I'd have thought that they'd be triggered by moisture, if
anything, since they're usually quite small without moisture reserves f
their own.

Whereas things that need the fridge treatment are usually things which
grow naturally in climates like ours, where they need to germinate in
the spring for a good growing season, so convincing them they've just
experienced winter is a good way to start them growing.


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm