Good seeds sink, Bad seeds float??????

I know that to sort large seeds like acorns and mountain laurels, you can tell the good from the bad by putting them in a bowl of water, the "good" will sink and the "bad" will float. Does anyone know if that is true of all seeds? I am trying the soak method from the peroxide idea and notice lots of differences in the seeds. Thanks for your answers. Margie

According to my book on propagation (from the American Horticultural Society) this is true. I have found, however, that if you watch them, they might float at first, then sink. So give them a little while before determining whether they are viable seeds or not. :) The ones that float are hollow. I would only do this with larger seeds.

There are also exceptions... one of the Cycads distributes its seeds via ocean currents and they float for hundreds of miles...
Mike

How about yellow iris seeds? I've had them soaking for about a week now. They're still floating!!!

I think about the only way you are going to tell is do what I do. Plant them anyways. A neat way to experiment with this would be to separate the ones that float from the ones that sink, and see if there is any difference. I can see that there could be exceptions - there are usually exceptions to most any rule.

I know that most of the daylily seeds I started in the water/peroxide solution floated, and kept floating as they sprouted. So Karrie is right, go ahead and plant them anyway!

well i can say in morning glory seeds it doesnt matter if they float or not. they sprout. i have a few in water now that are floating and have their little root coming out..

also i dont think this is true as for the fact many exotic seeds have to float or would never get to land or grow any where as would fall in the ocean. so some seeds have to float to survive.