6th grade Science Project on saving seeds

spyfferoni · September 9, 2011

My son has been thinking about doing a science project to see if there are good alternatives to fermentation. He thinks it is sooo nasty. I was wondering if using the oxiclean method and a rinse with a chlorine bleach solution would kill pathogens on the seed coats. He will mostly be testing germination of the different methods and weigh the pros and cons. It would be difficult for a 6th grader to determine if the pathogens remained or were destroyed, so his best bet will to find some sources of information on the subject. Can anyone point me in the right direction? The science fair isn't until the Spring, but he needs to do the seed saving techniques now while we have plenty of tomatoes. Then he can do the germination tests and document them in the Spring.

Thanks,
Tyffanie

Carolyn---if you see this would you be willing to answer some questions for him if he e-mails it to you? It would be neat for him to have access to someone who has published a book on heirloom tomatoes with tips on saving seeds. Thanks.

September 9, 2011	#1
spyfferoni Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 675	6th grade Science Project on saving seeds My son has been thinking about doing a science project to see if there are good alternatives to fermentation. He thinks it is sooo nasty. I was wondering if using the oxiclean method and a rinse with a chlorine bleach solution would kill pathogens on the seed coats. He will mostly be testing germination of the different methods and weigh the pros and cons. It would be difficult for a 6th grader to determine if the pathogens remained or were destroyed, so his best bet will to find some sources of information on the subject. Can anyone point me in the right direction? The science fair isn't until the Spring, but he needs to do the seed saving techniques now while we have plenty of tomatoes. Then he can do the germination tests and document them in the Spring. Thanks, Tyffanie Carolyn---if you see this would you be willing to answer some questions for him if he e-mails it to you? It would be neat for him to have access to someone who has published a book on heirloom tomatoes with tips on saving seeds. Thanks.