c-section

[charline]

yesterday and today I had to do about a dozen c-sections on my tomato babies. Some helmet heads came up later than the others when the dome was already taken off. So with the dry air the seeds were too hard and I had to help them to see the light. Three of them were already dead but the others are doing fine.

do you help yours or do you let nature go their way?

[Irv Wiseguy]

I try to help, but get impatient and usually end up pulling their heads off completely. Then I start seeds again and hope for the best. This year I'm 1 for 4 at de-seed heading seedlings. I like your term for it.

Maybe someday I'll learn how to do it successfully.

Irv

[Blueaussi]

It depends.

If I have plenty of that variety, I let nature take its course. If I don't have many, or germination was poor, I will try.

What do you use? I have some very fine forceps that were left in the lab, and I go up either side of the stalk, slip the tip under the seed coat, and let the forceps open. Sometimes I have to do that more than once to get the seed coat off.

[ddsack]

I help them along because it really bothers me to see the helmets not dropping off. First try is a drop of saliva which doesn't dry up as fast as water to keep the seed coat moist. If it still looks like it will be a stubborn one that won't tear naturally, I make a little hat by pushing my finger into some saran type plastic food wrap and putting some water into the depression before sliding it on top of the helmet so the helmet has water touching it. An hour or two of that will loosen all the but most hopeless.


I use a large straightened out safety pin to work loose and pry off those that still need help. My dental technician gave me some old worn out dental picks when I was admiring them and mentioned how nice they would be for seed micro-surgery. If the helmet has been on too long, the cots will have folded back on themselves try to grow inside, and you may lose one or both leaf tips if your fingers are not steady. I kind of enjoy monkeying around trying to help them.

[Starlight]

I do something pretty close to ddsack. I'll mist the leaves good, wait a minute or two and than wet my fingers and hold on the helmet a few seconds than I learned , for me instead of tryign to take straight off and breaking leaves, I just kind do a twist and flick and I can pop off helmets left and right. Once in a while I will lose one where I got to impatient to wait til I left the helmet moisten enough.

[Stvrob]

I cant resist the urge to help remove the seed. Sometimes if you take a water dropper you can get a drop of water to just cling to the seedhead, defying gravity. Sometimes i will take a sharp razor and first try to make a slight nick on the seed, so the moisture can better penetrate it. Im not necessarily any more successful than just letting nature run its course.

I am not sure, but I think seeds quick germinated on a heat mat are a little more prone to helmet head? Has anyone else observed this?

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

I cant resist the urge to help remove the seed. Sometimes if you take a water dropper you can get a drop of water to just cling to the seedhead, defying gravity. Sometimes i will take a sharp razor and first try to make a slight nick on the seed, so the moisture can better penetrate it. Im not necessarily any more successful than just letting nature run its course.

I am not sure, but I think seeds quick germinated on a heat mat are a little more prone to helmet head? Has anyone else observed this?

I'm wondering if it has to do with older seeds? I had s ton this year and most of my seeds are old. I always use a heat mat and the humidty here is much higher than when I was in AZ.

[Stvrob]

Im not sure, maybe age has more to do with it. I was wondering if taking a week to germinate might soften up the sead coat alot more than on a heat mat and just 48 hrs to germinate? Then again, as you suggest, maybe its seed age? Maybe the seedling doesnt have enough energy stored to crack the seedhead?

My worst this year was peppers, with very low germination rate, and lots of helmet heads. But the seed was only 2 yrs old.

[peppero]

With the hard to remove I moisten the head first and use o pair of small needle nose pliers to deform it and then remove. Works well for me.

jon