How long to wait for germination...?? - Page 2

**carolyn137** · November 3, 2011

Just what you need and that's another person weighing in on runts,
seed age and the like.

I used to sow my seed in seed pans, Permanest ones, or 20 row professional seed inserts and in either case would sow about 5-7 seeds/variety for 2-3 plants when I knew the seed age and that meant less than 5 yo seed.

I'd take the best looking seedlings to transplant but keep watering the rows and just riffling up the artificial mix in taking out the best looking seedlings would almost always allow for more seeds to germinate. So the ones left behind, although small at first would grow better with more room as would the newly germiated ones.

So I never had runts, so to speak, as Tania and others have mentioned above.

The only times I ever had runts that just sat there and looked at me was when I was trying to wake up very old seed, and that meant seed that was older than 10-15 yo.I was so desperate to get some plants from those very old seeds that after staring at them for several weeks I sometimes would transplant them as well. Sometimes they took off and were runtless, if you will, sometimes not, and sometimes no matter what I did in terms of special treatments I couldn't get some of those old seeds to germinate.

My record is waking up 22 yo seed of September Dawn, but the documented record is waking up 50 yo tomato seed.

And sometimes I had to wait several months for old seed to germinate.

As was mentioned above, there are differences between varieties as to how long they take to germinate and the one I have in mind right now is the variety Mirabelle, a small thumb sized pale yellow cherry, and even when all others had germinated that one, even with fresh saved seed always took about two weeks to germinate.

The last thing I'll mention is that several of us have found that the viability of seed for many heart varieties does not last as long as the viability for most non-hearts.

huntsman · November 3, 2011

Hi Carolyn -

Out here in Africa, I am pretty reliant on gifts from other tomato-heads around the world, so I don't always know how old the seeds are, but I tend to use them fairly soon (2 years, max)

Not sure if I would have enough patience for really old seeds...perhaps as I learn more and grow in confidence I'll get there...

This hobby sure teaches patience, though!

kath · November 3, 2011

Thanks to Tania, Ami and Carolyn for weighing in on your experience with "runts". I've only had the patience to wait and wait for weeks on end when it was the only seed I had for a variety but it's good to know if it happens again that the waiting will probably be worth it and produce a normal plant eventually.

November 3, 2011	#16
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	Just what you need and that's another person weighing in on runts, seed age and the like. I used to sow my seed in seed pans, Permanest ones, or 20 row professional seed inserts and in either case would sow about 5-7 seeds/variety for 2-3 plants when I knew the seed age and that meant less than 5 yo seed. I'd take the best looking seedlings to transplant but keep watering the rows and just riffling up the artificial mix in taking out the best looking seedlings would almost always allow for more seeds to germinate. So the ones left behind, although small at first would grow better with more room as would the newly germiated ones. So I never had runts, so to speak, as Tania and others have mentioned above. The only times I ever had runts that just sat there and looked at me was when I was trying to wake up very old seed, and that meant seed that was older than 10-15 yo.I was so desperate to get some plants from those very old seeds that after staring at them for several weeks I sometimes would transplant them as well. Sometimes they took off and were runtless, if you will, sometimes not, and sometimes no matter what I did in terms of special treatments I couldn't get some of those old seeds to germinate. My record is waking up 22 yo seed of September Dawn, but the documented record is waking up 50 yo tomato seed. And sometimes I had to wait several months for old seed to germinate. As was mentioned above, there are differences between varieties as to how long they take to germinate and the one I have in mind right now is the variety Mirabelle, a small thumb sized pale yellow cherry, and even when all others had germinated that one, even with fresh saved seed always took about two weeks to germinate. The last thing I'll mention is that several of us have found that the viability of seed for many heart varieties does not last as long as the viability for most non-hearts. __________________ Carolyn

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November 3, 2011	#17
huntsman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa - GrowZone 9 Posts: 595	Hi Carolyn - Out here in Africa, I am pretty reliant on gifts from other tomato-heads around the world, so I don't always know how old the seeds are, but I tend to use them fairly soon (2 years, max) Not sure if I would have enough patience for really old seeds...perhaps as I learn more and grow in confidence I'll get there... This hobby sure teaches patience, though!

November 3, 2011	#18
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	Thanks to Tania, Ami and Carolyn for weighing in on your experience with "runts". I've only had the patience to wait and wait for weeks on end when it was the only seed I had for a variety but it's good to know if it happens again that the waiting will probably be worth it and produce a normal plant eventually.