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Helping late-ripening seed pods along?

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Jack in NB

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I lost a couple of plants to a late July storm this year, and hung them up to stalk cure. The flowers were just budding, and continued to develop for a couple of weeks after they broke off.

It strikes me that the technique might work to ripen seed pods that aren't quite ready before that killer frost.

I'll try it this year - cutting the stalk with the seed pods intact the night before that killer, and moving it into a cool location to see if the pods ripen further.

The proof will be a germination test after the pods dry out completely.
 

SmokesAhoy

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It works definitely .that's what I did last year, and what I'm doing again because it works so well. Seed from last year close to100% germ .
 

Fisherman

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I will remeber this when November strikes my 2nd planned planting which is mainly for seeds anyway. It isnt fear of a frost really but rather the slowing of growth due to cooler weather. Maybe can bring stalks into warmer area and get more growth and maturity too?
 

FmGrowit

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I wouldn't be surprised if you can grow the seed head indoors until it ripens. Think cut flowers, cut the seed head and shove it a pot with some potting mix. It might not root, but tobacco is stubborn enough to live until some seeds mature.
 

JessicaNicot

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I wouldn't be surprised if you can grow the seed head indoors until it ripens. Think cut flowers, cut the seed head and shove it a pot with some potting mix. It might not root, but tobacco is stubborn enough to live until some seeds mature.

i don't know about potting mix but you could certainly try a bucket with a little bit of water in it.

below in an excerpt from an article that talks about getting seed out of non-ripe capsules to germinate. however, I don't know how well this seed would STORE as opposed to germinating it immediately, and therefor I DO NOT recommend doing this to all of your capsules if you happen to lose your seed head. it would make for an interesting experiment tho to see about the longterm viability of seed treated in this manner.

in that same paper that talks about the 2% bleach and acetone method for breaking seed dormancy, it also says: "Dormancy in N. tabacum rarely presents a problem. Tobacco seeds usually germinate reasonably well as soon as the seed capsule has turned brown and the seeds have fallen of the carpels (I called them the placenta somewhere else). A period of seed dormancy exists however between the time seeds reach their full size and when they have turned brown and are free of the carpels. This period may vary between 1 and 3 weeks, depending on growing conditions. Seed produced in the greenhouse during the winter months will tend to mature over a longer period of time. The N. tabacum indicated in Table 1 (Germination: 0% untreated vs 92% treated) was obtained by scraping seeds, which had begun to turn brown, from the carpels of a (green) seed capsule of the variety Vamorr 50. Although this method was used for comparative purposes (the main study is about breaking seed dormancy in a couple Nicotiana species), it illustrates a method whereby seed of N. tabacum can be harvested and forced to germinate several weeks earlier than normal." (Burk LG. 1957. Agronomy Journal 49:461)
 

bonehead

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I wouldn't be surprised if you can grow the seed head indoors until it ripens. Think cut flowers, cut the seed head and shove it a pot with some potting mix. It might not root, but tobacco is stubborn enough to live until some seeds mature.
i start clones (plants) with olivias cloning gel and seed starter mix and it usually roots in a week of so. usually you can root cuttings easier if you dont have to many leafs and have an internode bud burried under the seed starting mix.
 

deluxestogie

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Another approach, which I will try with a seed head and with some suckers, is to stick it into a pot or cell filled with vermiculite that is kept saturated with water.

Bob
 

DGBAMA

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Another approach, which I will try with a seed head and with some suckers, is to stick it into a pot or cell filled with vermiculite that is kept saturated with water.

Bob
Works with suckers for sure. 10 days and stronger root system than my plants fseed. Mine is in the ground now and the real proof will be in how it grows.
 
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