Hi all,
Struggling with molding rose seeds (despite all measures), it just occurred to me that the common household preservative sodium benzoate (or benzoic acid) might help in preventing mold. Has anyone tried it? Might it have adverse effects on germination?
Regards,
Jukka Kallijarvi
Helsinki
Finland
I would be worried about the effect of the sodium ions.
Jukka, what is your normal germination percentage from seeds that get mold? In my experience, the seeds that get mold most easily are those that are dead. I guess there’s not much point in treating those, or keeping them. But if you are getting germination and the seedlings are surviving, what’s the problem? Most white mold does little damage, but black, blue, and green molds usually are not good unless you enjoy those colors.
Are you experiencing this mold during vernalisation or at another stage?
A little mold is often harmless to beneficial.
I do avoid seed overmolding without any chemicals and little sanitizing.
In my opinion sterilizing favor the bad microorganisms.
To the point I am more and more interested in using mycorrhizae as soon as possible.
Dry seeds do not mold neither very wet ones.
The key is giving seeds the right wetness amount.
One can clean vernalizing too much molded seeds just by letting them stand in water for a few days then rinsing.
Well, I get very poor germination rates no matter what I do.
I admit that this probably has more to do with seed immaturity due to the cold climate where I live. Anyway, it’s good to know that molding in not necessarily bad for germination. I’ve had the impression that molds infiltrate the seeds and kill the embryo, but if this is not the case then I’m relieved.
Sodium benzoate is, like you know, present at high concentrations in many berries. (Lingonberry, one of Finland’s most valued berries, used to be preserved for winter by simply mashing the berries in wooden barrels. In a cool storage place the mash will not go bad due to the the natural benzoate. The same goes for cloudberries that could be kept all winter and were an efficient cure for scurvy in Northern Finland.)
The concentration of sb that I’m suggesting are around 0.1% so I don’t think the sodium ions would do harm.
Anyway, I think I’ll collect some op species seeds and make a pilot experiment to see if benzoate does help or have adverse effects on germination.
Jukka
Finland