Moldy seeds question

R&R 1011 2/7/2015, 1:06 am

I traded some seeds with a guy on FB and the pepper seeds I received have some mold on them. Would you try to grow them or pitch?

The other pepper seeds he sent are completely smashed...into pieces. Im a bit disappointed. Im new to seed saving myself but geesh.

**llama momma** 2/7/2015, 6:09 am

I'd toss them out.

plantoid 2/7/2015, 6:48 am

Sometimes ( In my case frequently so it sometimes seems ) seed get milled as they pass through the automated system of several franking machine rollers of the postal service if it is not a thick bubble wrap packet .

The mould could also be from the postal system ...when mail is posted from some one who has a high humidity home & or car in a simple paper envelope , it also gets damp in an outside posting box over night of it's damp weather then the seeds spend a few days in transit in a warmer place sweat & the mould starts . If your home is a warm humid one the mould then wrecks the seeds .

**camprn** 2/7/2015, 6:56 am

I would try to get them to grow.

dstack 2/7/2015, 10:47 pm

Hydrogen peroxide kills many molds, fungi, etc. And I've read that you can soak some seeds in H2O2 for a few minutes as a substitute for soaking in water for 24 hours. But some don't recommend soaking pepper seeds in H2O2, but I would dip them briefly in it before planting. Some of my onions got moldy before I replanted them as sets, so I dipped them in H2O2 before planting and I think it did the trick.

Also, my favorite way to germinate seeds now is within a folded moist paper towel and in a ziplock bag. I label it with the plant name and the date. I especially like this for difficult to germinate seeds. So if I were you I would do the H2O2 dip and use this method. There are many YouTube videos which demonstrate this method.

Good luck! Moldy seeds question 3170584802

plantoid 2/8/2015, 7:11 pm

I like your post Dstack .

The zip lock bag can be placed anywhere warm dark or light as needed without the worry of them being knocked over or drying out too quickly .

R&R 1011 2/9/2015, 1:29 am

dstack wrote:Hydrogen peroxide kills many molds, fungi, etc. And I've read that you can soak some seeds in H2O2 for a few minutes as a substitute for soaking in water for 24 hours. But some don't recommend soaking pepper seeds in H2O2, but I would dip them briefly in it before planting. Some of my onions got moldy before I replanted them as sets, so I dipped them in H2O2 before planting and I think it did the trick.

Also, my favorite way to germinate seeds now is within a folded moist paper towel and in a ziplock bag. I label it with the plant name and the date. I especially like this for difficult to germinate seeds. So if I were you I would do the H2O2 dip and use this method. There are many YouTube videos which demonstrate this method.

Good luck!

I thought about using hydrogen peroxide, but ended up planting the best looking ones and tossed the worst looking.

So when you germinate that way you just toss the seedlings in your starter soil after they germinate? They transplant okay?

dstack 2/9/2015, 5:31 am

The germinated seedlings have to be handled with care. Often the roots have grown through the paper towel, so I'll rip the paper and plant it with the seedling. They usually do transplant well, especially if the roots go deep and the cotyledon is exposed to the light.

plantoid 2/9/2015, 6:14 am

Dstack,

Perhaps try putting individual seeds to 1/4 to 1/2 " squares of the damp tissue .... by putting them on a plate that has a bit of a lip round the edge , then put the seeds on the square and slide the plate into the bag whilst it is kept flat . carefully tuck the spare bag under the plate to get the air seal .
In the past I've used the shallow lids of smoked coloured PYREX dishes for getting celery and all manner of other seeds going , using the inverted bowl as the cover . It was a doddle to use a pair of tweezers and pick up individual rooted germinated seeds and transplant them in my tube pots

That should give you much better control & open up things for experimenting ... my carrots experiment didn't do too well with this method .

dstack 2/9/2015, 7:02 am

I recommend viewing some of the many demonstrations on YouTube of the moist paper towel method.

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