51st state

Hi Guys

anyone tried adding activated charcoal to their potting mix whilst germinating seed?

I have tried smoke discs from seedman and I guess activated charcoal would give pretty much the same effect.

see extract from article below:-

Ensete ventricosum (Musaceae) is an important food crop in Ethiopia. Germination of zygotic embryos from the two wild types (W01 and W02) of E. ventricosum was investigated in vitro on six media compositions with and without activated charcoal. The germination rate of embryos of W01 on Murashige and Skoog medium without plant growth regulators and activated charcoal was 34%. This increased to 63% when the medium was supplemented with 2.22µM benzyladenine, 1.14µM indole-3-acetic acid and 5g l–1 AC. For type W02, germination was 30% when Murashige and Skoog medium was supplemented with 6.66µM benzyladenine, 9.05µM 2,4-D and 1.14µM indole-3-acetic acid in the absence of activated charcoal. This improved to 88% with the inclusion of activated charcoal into the medium. The presence of activated charcoal in the media prevented callus formation and blackening of germinating embryos and promoted germination and seedling development. The development of the embryos was genotype and treatment dependent.

South African Journal of Botany 2004, 70(4): 635–639

any feedback would be welcome. cold weather due this week...Oh No...

__________________
a>

banana_fun

This document was produced for in vitro micro-propagation through embryo rescue. If you add charcoal to your potting soil it will not aid in germination, but rather reduce the chance of fungus growth.

Cold weather is headed this way too. I can’t wait until summer!

banana_fun

If you are looking for something that will aid in germination of seeds you can try Gibberellic acid which breaks seed dormancy and causes rapid germination. If I recall the mix 2000 ppm.

mrbungalow

I read an article a few weeks ago that in musa-seeds, a natural percentage of the seeds are un-viable because they lack one or more structures. Especially seed from unripe fruit or fruit ripened in less than ideal conditions are not likely to germinate easily.They say the behavior of musa seeds is still not completely understood. Many factors influence the quality of a given seed-batch.

Growing from seed has been one of the more interesting parts of this hobby for me. It allways feels great when you manage to sprout a tough species.

I have also tried the smoke-disks, and can't say it's my holy grail. Healthy seed still seem to germinate well with fluctuating temps.

Erlend

__________________

51st state

thanks for that. i've just ordered some up on ebay. great basjoo photos. mine are 'hiding' from the cold in a propagator in the greenhouse (growing even at this time of year). I'm looking forward to big things from them this year, and if I can get the Textilis to germinate the neighbours are in for a big surprise.

__________________
a>

banana_fun

mrbungalow, have you tried using gibberellic acid to aid in germination? I have 13 cc of GA, but no seed! They are on order. I am going to try using GA to elongate the leaf petioles of my maurelii to give it more of a banana look.

mrbungalow

Here is an article on GA. http://www.plantcell.org/cgi/content/full/14/1/1

Because GA can disturbe natural growth, I don't want to use it.

Erlend

__________________

banana_fun

GA does effect growth, but as stated in the article it is essential for seed germination.