Propagation: Seed procedures, 1 by gardening101usa

gardening101usa wrote:
Here is a photo of intentionaly mishandled Butternut Squash seed - experiment # 23 of 25. The experiment was repeateable though I do not like to admit it. A cat liter box was handled by cleaning and then touching seed in this case. In each of the 25 samplings 20 batches of 25 did not grow what was perfectly good seed. 25 Samples from the 25 batches handled with care all batches grew successfuly. The shell could not be cleaned from the bacteria enough not to affect the seed and when growth was not noticed a white mildew was surrounding the seed when uncovered from good potting soil. Care was taken not to over water and climate/light were kept moderated in all the experiments. Since then I have handled other elements that were not as pronounced as this but did affect the percentage per seeding of growth greatly by as much as 70% non germination. The same potting soil was used as well. The bacteria on the shell of the seeds did not show up until 4 to 6 months later in each instance. The contaminated and non-contaminated seeds were treated exactly like others in the way they were dried and stored, except for hand handling. As well the link o my paper written on saving seeds.
http://gardening101usa.com/seeds/Savingseeds.html
http://www.gardening101usa.com/seeds/Savingseeds.html