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Pelleting your own seeds

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FmGrowit

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I've been looking for a recipe for a few years and I think this will work fine with tobacco seeds.

W. S. McGuire, professor of agronomy, and
David B. Hannaway, Extension forage crop specialist,
Oregon State University

Pelleting other species

Alfalfa and its appropriate Rhizobia are not tolerant to acid soil conditions. Therefore, liming the soil to the recommended pH is necessary. Pelleting is of benefit, however, in assuring adequate numbers of viable Rhizobia in contact with the seed. Clovers are more tolerant than alfalfa to pH values below 6.0. Lime pelleting is of most benefit to the true clovers, especially when introducing a new clover or sowing in soil that has not grown the species before. This has application in western Oregon to subterranean, crimson, and arrowleaf cloverS, which require special strains of Rhizobia prepared for the species. White, red, and alsike clovers seldom show ineffective nodulation in Oregon. These clovers, especially white clover, have been grown for many years and the Rhizobia are generally present in soils. Nevertheless, inoculation is always recommended to insure nodulation, and to provide large numbers of an effective nitrogen fixing
strain to overcome less effective or parasitic strains already present.

Materials needed for pelleting
• Gum or adhesive. It must be water soluble and not detrimental to Rhizobia or seed. Gumarable has been found to be satisfactory. It normally contains no preservative, is inexpensive, and is readily available through chemical supply outlets.

• Lime. Most of the limestone sources in Oregon have been investigated for compatibility with Rhizobia survival. Of these, Oswego lime and sugarlime provided excellent survival of the Rhizobia. The lime should be finely ground, mostly passing through a 200-mesh screen. Byproduct industry limes such as paper mills, acetylene, and stack dusts should not be used.

• Peat inoculant. The inoculant must be specifically labeled for the legume species and within the expiration date printed on the container.

Pelleting large lots of seed
1. Prepare a 40 percent solution of arable gum by adding 4 pounds of the powdered gum to 1 gallon of water. This is enough for at least 100 pounds of seed. Slowly add the gum while stirring or shaking. The gum goes into solution very slowly and should be prepared the day before. Warm or hot water is helpful, but the solution should not be boiled. Make sure the water has cooled before adding inoculum, since hot water will kill the Rhizobia.

2. Next day, add peat inoculum to the solution and stir until there is a smooth slurry. Use at least the recommended amount of inoculum for the 100 pounds of seed (2 bushel size).

3. Put the seed into a concrete mixer or large container, add the gum-inoculum slurry to the seed while agitating until all the seeds are coated. If a mixer is not available, be sure to use a small enough quantity of seed for thorough mixing.

4. Add the lime and continue mixing, preferably at higher speed and with the vanes removed. About 50 pounds of lime is required for 100 pounds of sub- or crimson clover seed and slightly more for arrowleaf clover.

5. Lumps of seed may occur because of too much slurry or insufficient action in agitation. Any lumps should be broken up or removed before putting seed into the drill.

Pelleting small amounts of seed Small quantities of seed can be pelleted by using pint or quart jars one-fourth full of gum powder, then filled with warm water and shaken on occasion until the gum is dissolved. Put the seeds in a tub or any suitable container, mix the required amount of inoculum with the gum solution to form the slurry. Pour on the slurry while stirring the seeds by hand, until all seeds are wet. Add lime with one hand while stirring vigorously with the other hand until the seeds are pelleted. Planting can start immediately, especially if pellets are mixed with grass seeds, but they will harden and are easier to plant if allowed to stand a few hours. Plant at least within 48 hours.

• Do not use quicklime, industrial byproduct lime products, or calcium hydroxide as they may be toxic to Rhizobia.

• Do not make up gum solution more than about 36 hours before intended use. With no preservative, the solution is decomposed by bacteria and fungi and may become toxic to Rhizobia.

• Do not leave inoculated seeds or pelleted seeds in direct sunlight.

• Do plant pelleted seeds as soon as dry or within 48 hours, and refrigerate seeds if not planting immediately.

• Do use at least the recommended amount of inoculum—one packet per bushel of seed (60 pounds). Using two to three times this amount is good insurance of maintaining an adequate number of bacteria.

• Do throw away any gum solution and inoculum that are left over.

• Do wash containers before they become dry. If a cement mixer is used, add gravel to the water for cleaning.
 

johnlee1933

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Interesting but I am a little confused. The seeds are so tiny why don't they clump together? That said, I'm willing to give it a go.

I haven't started a search yet but before I do, anybody know where to get small amounts of gun and inoculum?

John
 

deluxestogie

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John,
The inoculum is a culture of nitrogen-fixing organisms that are beneficial to the Alfalfa. So, no need for it with tobacco seed. I don't know the answer to the size issue.

Bob
 

FmGrowit

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I think it's going to be tricky enough doing it the way it's suggested. I'd recommend not straying from what is known. Isn't Knox Gelatin granular? You're going to need the finest dust you can find....just my two cents
 

johnlee1933

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Just an FYI guys,

I was IM'ing with my commercial friend and he said the following about pelleting seeds

Funny you should ask about pelletizing -- I just sent my seed out to California to be done. They have a process, which I have never seen, where each seed gets coated individually. They electrically charge the seed, suspend them in air between two charged plates, and then spray a coating material into the chamber that collects on the seeds. As the amount of coating increases, the weight of the coated seed causes it to fall to a conveyer belt that takes it out of the chamber and drys it. All for about 75 cents per thousand seeds!

John
 

Daniel

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John, Any way you can get the name of the company? I plan to produce a lot of seed this year and may very well be interested in getting it pelleted for next year.
 

FmGrowit

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Sounds like the same principal as powder coating. I'd be curious to know how they get the powder to stay on the seed without heat.

Pumices is often used as an excipient, providing body, viscosity and coating integrity to complex seed coating formulations.В The moisture retention properties of pumice make it an excellent inert powder in many seed coating applications

http://paramount-seeds.com
How is Seed Coated?
Seed coating relies on technology developed by the pharmaceutical industry to make medicinal pills. Commercial seed coating operations put seed in a rotating pa, mist with water or other liquid and gradually add a fine inert powder, e.g., Diatomaceous earth, to the coating pan. Each misted seed becomes the center of an agglomeration of powder that gradually increases in size. The pills are rounded and smoothed by the tumbling action in the pan, similar to pebbles on the beach. The coating powder is compacted compression from the weight of material in the pan.
Binders often are incorporated near the end of the coating process to harden the outer layer of the pill. Binders can also reduce the amount of dust produced by the finished product in handling, shipping and sowing. Care must be taken with binders to avoid delaying or reducing the germination percentage.
Specific details of the materials used as binders are closely held as proprietary information by the coating companies. We are unaware of any public information on the classes of materials used as binders.
Blanks and doubles are eliminated by intensive screening and other techniques. Uniform size and uniform rate of increase in size are evaluated throughout the process with frequent hand screening. At intervals during coating, and at the end, all of the pills are removed and mechanically sized on a set of vibrating screens. Smaller pills are returned to the pan and built up to the size of the remainder of the lot. After drying, usually with a forced air system at controlled, moderate temperatures, the pills are screened a final time before packaging. Undersized pills may be built up or discarded. The recovery rate (number of pills divided by the original number of seeds) has been 97% +/-2% for commercial seed lots at one commercial company for the past 10 years.
Size uniformity after coating is a major criterion of coating quality. The usual tolerance for coated seed is +/-1/64th inch (0.4mm). This is the US seed trade standard for sizing, established long before coatings were introduced. For example, coated lettuce seed is sown most frequently with a belt planter through a 13/64 inch diameter round holes in the belt. This hole size requires that the lettuce pills be sized over a 7.5/64 inch screen and through an 8.5/64 inch screen. These tolerances result in levels of singulation well above 95% in the field with placement in the row controlled within<1/2 inch.
Accuracy of seed placement can vary with weight of the pill as well as the size tolerances. Sowing accuracy also depends on the skill of the equipment operators, the adjustment and the wear of the seeder, and the speed of the tractor through the field. The same constraints are true for greenhouse seeding: experience, attention to details and appropriate equipment are necessary to obtain the full benefit of coated seed.
Types of coatings.
Two basic types of pill produced with inert coating powders are dissolving or "melt" coats and "split" coats.
The melt coats dissolve when wet and gradually wash away from around the seed. Split coats initially retain their shape when wet and , by capillary action, pass moisture through the pill to be imbibed by the seed. The seed swells and cracks the pill by internal turgor pressure. The split coat often permit germination with less water, as they split, allow uniform, rapid oxygen access to the surface of the seed. The melt coats often require more water to wash the coating material away from the seed, and more time for the oxygen to reach the seed through the saturated coating material. Melt coats may offer advantages when soils are saturated , but oxygen availability always influences the speed, uniformity and total percentage of germination.
Powder coatings, both split and melt, multiply raw seed rate and depending on the coating, the number of seeds per pound may decrease dramatically (Table 1)
Table 1.
Species
Seeds / lb (raw) Pills / lb (coated)Weight increase (%)
Begonia70,000,000250,00028,000
Lettuce430,00012,500 - 40,0003,400 - 1,100
Onion120,00015,000 - 30,000800 - 400
Tobacco5,000,000165,0003,000


I just contacted Paramount seed company and they are forwarding my request to a company who processes tobacco seeds.
 

BigBonner

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From my use of peletized seeds .

At the begining of tobacco being pelletized some of the coatings didn't work . The coating caused plant germination problem along with spiral root .
It has since been corrected to where the coatings work good now .
So the coatings that work for other vegetables may not work well for tobacco .
 

FmGrowit

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John, Any way you can get the name of the company? I plan to produce a lot of seed this year and may very well be interested in getting it pelleted for next year.

It might be worth combining all of our seeds and approaching a seed company to do all of them as a single order. If I don't get a positive reply from the company Paramount is recommending, I'm going to talk to the folks at Paramount to provide the materials to pellet seeds. Their business is teaching, training and supplying the materials for pelleting.

I can't imagine there would be much of a start-up cost to pellet tobacco seeds....it's not like we want to coat tens of thousands of acres of corn or soy beans.
 

johnlee1933

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Daniel,

My guy got back to me and the company is
The name of the company is:

Incotec, located in Salinas, CA.
Their number is
(800) 757-4366. I should also mention that their minumum charge is $850.

John
 

Daniel

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Don is on the right idea there. Pool seeds to be pelleted and make it worth everyones trouble. I know I am wasting a lot of seed the way I am starting them and would avoid a ton of work if I can start one seed per cell rather than transplanting them from a starter tray to the cells. I am going to assume that the $850 min is per order or per type of seed. With that the varieties would have to be selected very carefully. It is also my bet this is goign to be true for just about any place that pellets seed because of the set up to run a batch.
 

FmGrowit

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I've been corresponding with a couple of people from Paramount. I think we'll be able to come to a mutually beneficial arrangement, but the service will not be available until the end of this growing season. There are still a lot of questions to be answered and I'm mainly concerned about the shelf life of a pelleted seed. If it turns out a binder or primer of some kind can extend the shelf life, I will pursue the idea. If pelleting reduces shelf life, it would be of little value to the seed collection to pellet the seeds.
 

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I prefer the unprilled seeds sometimes the fertilizer effects the flavor.
 
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