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Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

I talked to a greenhouse grower that says they soak all seeds at 122°F for a few minutes in a 1tsp to a Quart of water solution, then soak in an hour cold water bath. He said it does two things softens the seed hull and kills any seed borne virus. Anyone ever heard of this befeore

3/15/2012 1:34:35 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Linus, I am sure you have heard of soaking seeds, as have I...but have never heard about elevated temps w/TriSodium Phosphate...have soaked seeds in H2P02 (Hydrogen Peroxide)? is this correct? but at room temps? The results were meant to be the same,(soften hull, and kill virus) but...this procedure of elevated temps during soaking is new to me!!! Peace, Wayne

3/16/2012 12:23:33 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

H202 is Hydrogen Peroxide :) They mainly do it on flowers, tomatoes and peppers...not sure how it would work on pumpkins. They did say if they did not do it on peppers they had poor germination

3/16/2012 7:49:38 AM

Hinckley MN

Some flowers are notoriously hard to germinate and way to small to file. commercial greenhouses often work on tight margins and getting an expensive 20% germination seed up to 60% or 80% germination can make a huge difference in their bottom line. Most pumpkin growers already achieve 80-100% germination. If you don't have a virus issue and are getting high germination rates, it probably isn't worth it.

3/16/2012 10:21:42 AM