Blue pea vine seeds didn't germinate

I sowed some blue pea vine seeds a couple of weeks ago and none have germinated. A book said to pour boiling water over the seeds and let that sit for 24 hours before sowing, which I did. However, I haven't seen any seedlings come up.

I just did a search on blue pea vine seeds and one source seemed to suggest that they need darkness to germinate. Is this true? If so, is it too late for these seeds?

Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.

Lily, are you talking about Clitoria seeds? If so, I do not do any pretreatment of the seeds. I find they do better sown in place, they do not transplant well for me. They need full sun too. I will probably plant mine in a couple of weeks.
Hope that helps,
Donna

I planted them a few years ago and nothing. A couple of months later, I caught a glimpse of something very small, very blue and very embarrasing! LOL I have a spot in the yard where I dump my used seed mix. Sometimes I grow suprises, sometimes I don't. The Clitoria I gave up didn't give up on me. :)

to start clitoria vines or blue butterfly peas they need to be nicked. they have a hard shell and until nicked wont do anything. i always nick mine and in a few days to a week in moist warm soil see them coming up.

Lily,
if you used all yours & need a few more seeds, email me.

I did use all mine, so I may have to take you up on your offer, PudgyMudpies. I'm surprised about the nicking, since the garden book I read said that you only needed to soak in boiling water to soften the hard coating. I wonder if it's too late to get the seeds out of the soil mix and nick them?

I did put them in peat pots so that I wouldn't have to disturb the roots later. I usually don't sow in place, since my clay soil usually spells doom for seeds.

I'll try poking around one of the peat pots to see if anything is happening with the seeds.

it works

maybe you should try to nick one and see.

a lady friend a few years back had one and she always said to nick them before planting.

i have always put a small nick in my clitorias when i have the pleasure of seeds. I believ Donna sent me some and i have all four of mine up that i nicked.

i have never heard of soaking them in hot water either.

no don't nick the seeds. I have been growing them for years. Soak for a couple of days and pot up and put under lights. Inside usually takes 2 or 3 weeks. Best if you just put them outside and just barely cover. I have a million of them come up this summer where they fell off the vine from last year. Make sure it is the black seeds. The browns ones are not mature enough and won't come up

I simply stick mine in soil. keep damp, sit in sunny spot, and wait.. They will come..

Larkie

i have the old pack the lady gave me from Tand M and it says they can be nicked if large enough.

it works for me and thats fine.

others it may work for too or it may not. i know nicking them slightly works for me.

I never nick mine, but I soak them for a few days in room temp water. Then I sow them where I want them to grow and they come up i n a few days. If not soaked they can take weeks to come up.

I soaked mine for only 24 hours. Maybe that is the problem. It sounds like they might eventually come up though, just not so quickly.

HI-
Yes, yet another way to do it! lol....

I do suggest you use really hot water, but not boiling. Boiling water will harm the seed embryo, and kill it. The hot water should not be hotter than 160-165 degrees. At 168 damage will occur. (I read this in an in depth botany journal).

I run my water through the coffee maker. I put a candy thermometer in the water, and it tested at exactly 160 degrees. You might check yours and see if it is about the same temperature. If it is, I suggest you use your coffee maker, instead of boiling your water.

Steeping water is useful for two reasons. At 160 it will kill the mold and fungus spores(damping off spores) that could kill your seeds, within weeks of germinating. It also hastens the absorption of the water, because it causes the seed coat to expand and water to more easily permeate the coat. If you are using steeping hot water, nicking is not necessary. If you are using hot tap water (140) you should nick your seeds. However, if you use hot tap water, though, it will not kill the mold spores.

They need erratic temperatures to germinate. A constant temperature will make them take a long time. That is why it is best to sow them outside. I don't direct sow them, but do put them in a container and put the container outside.

hope this helps.
-T

Uh, oh, my water was REALLY boiling hot when I poured it on the seeds. Maybe I killed them. The book I consulted said to use boiling water, but didn't say anything about the exact temperature of the water.

You might try a second batch, but be sure to "throw your others out" where you can kinda keep track of them...just in case...lol
-T

I have seen germination instructions for a few seeds where you are supposed to boil water, but usually you let it cool until "hand hot" then use it to soak your seeds. I just had these same instructions on some banana seeds. I think another was Aristolchia (probably spelled wrong), dutchman's pipe vine.

wonder what "hand hot" is...I'll bet it is around 120-130*

I ran my sink water as hot as I could get it, and then stuck the meat thermometer under the running water to test, and it was 140. It was way too hot to hold my hand under.

My coffee maker is 160* and pretty sure they call that "steeping" hot. You can just barely see a little mist(not yet steam) above the water...

-T

I had some last year and was so disappointed in them. The flowers are so small they weren't visible very far away.

I got the blue and the white variety seeds from Calalily and they sprouted within a week with no soaking and are growing like little weeds.

Wow David, I'm gonna send my corkscrew vine seeds to you to grow! (those seeds were fresh, just picked and dried and sent out and I think that helps)

Susie,
I planted all 13 varieties of seeds that you sent me the same day. Every variety has germinated so far except for the aristilochias and nothing was soaked.

Almost all of the pea vines came up, but the other varieties just have 3-4 hills of sprouts so far.