I have a seed problem, which I posted on the Hibiscus forum, but no one has replied with an answer yet and I'm trying to get some seeds ready for trading. Here's the post:
Someone please tell me what's going on... I harvested my hardy pink hibiscus seeds a couple of weeks ago, made sure they were dried out enough, then put them in a brown coin envelope. I have a basket with alphabetized index cards and stuck them in there for a couple more weeks. This morning I went to collect a few of my seed envelopes for trades and brought them into our home office and set them on the desk. I did a few other things, but kept hearing a strange noise coming from the desk area and about 3 hours later curiosity got the best of me and started to investigate. I looked all over my desk and realized the noise was coming from those envelopes. I picked them up one by one, shook them, and suddenly when I picked up the hibiscus seed envelope I saw some tiny black insects crawling all over it. I opened up the envie and it was filled with these bugs, some of which flew away. They're almost as small as knats, but darker and heavier. I took the envie outside and dumped it into a plastic container, shook it around and watched as all those bugs scrambled about with some flying away. There were hundreds of them. I noticed most of my seeds had tiny holes in them, too. Did the bugs come out of the seeds, or were they burrowing into the seeds? What in the world are they anyway?
Additionally, I need to know if they are still good for trading with the holes in them? I'm trying to see if they are still viable by germinating them in a damp paper towel inside a baggie. It's only been since yesterday so, of course, nothing's sprouting yet. Any idea how long it takes to germinate?
JoAnn
Hibiscus Seed Question
I had that happen last year. It's some kind of weevil in the seeds. After I collected seeds this year I put mine in the freezer to try and kill any of those I might have. They came out of the freezer last week and no bugs hatching so far.
Will the seeds still sprout with the holes in them?
JoAnn
No, they were eaten. Just figure some are bad. 20%??? Probably not that high but some % with be bad seeds. It's rare to have seeds that germinate 100% OF THE TIME.
Freeze hibiscus seeds? Won't that kill em?
X
Not hardy hibiscus. I did it last year and it didn't kill them. Tropical seeds I would imagine would die. I only put them in for about 36 hours.
It's so weird because it looks like they came from the inside out because there are all these little plugs that fit neatly into the holes. If I get the chance, I'll try to take some pics. It sure looks like about 90% of the seeds have holes in them. Bummer!
JoAnn
Eggs got laid on the seeds and yes they are coming out of the seeds. The bugs eat the insides until they're ready to come out. At least that's what I figured is going on.
Here's the rub. You would have to spray the flower with bug killer which will kill bees etc. also the weevils. I think the best solution is not to leave them out on the bush for very long and then freeze them before they eat the seed.
Or put little socks (like we use on buds for purebred hand pollination) on them made of organza once the seed pod starts to grow. I think that might work.
X
Wow, thanks for all the great info, guys!
I was really disappointed because I must have harvested about 3/4's of a cup. The good news is, there are new buds! This time I'll freeze any seeds I harvest.
JoAnn
This message was edited Aug 29, 2008 4:22 PM