Tom_in_TN
Well-Known Member
Wanted to start some Cherry Red Free seeds after reading an old post about this variety on another forum. Here is an excerpt from the post:
Whoo-hooo!!! This sounded like a fantastic leaf to smoke, so I choose "401 Cherry Red Free" for my FREE seed pick. FmGrowit informed me that the last time he sent out a batch they did not germinate for the grower, but he would send them out anyway. From all the info I read about how to germinate old seed, I developed a plan to soak a few seeds in a weak saltpeter and Gibberellic Acid 3 solution. Recipe: 1/4 teaspoon of saltpeter in a quart of water and 1/4 tsp. of 500 PPM, GA-3 (a very weak solution). Once the seed arrived I started about 1/2 to germinate in a ziplock baggie on a paper towel soaked with a tablespoon of the 'germinating juice' and placed them on a heat pad that kept the seed at 80-85 degrees during the night. The remaining seeds were put in the freezer as 'back-up' seeds. Then about mid-morning when outside temps began to rise to 70 degrees the baggie were placed in shaded sunlight, but with no extra heating. After 60 hours, 2 or 3 seeds showed faint signs of life. After 72 hours, a few more seeds showed signs of life and 12 had 'white tips' busting out. Since those 12 seeds appeared to be sprouting, I 'planted' them in potting soil. None of the remaining seeds ever showed any further signs of life.
Once in the soil and a couple of days of waiting and checking every few hours for some 'green' to show, they slowly starting to perk-up and sprout. So far, 10 have sprouted. The 'backup batch' are now 'soaking' in a baggie and hopefully there will be at least another 10 or so to sprout.
To see what the Cherry Red Free plants might look like when nearing maturity here is an image from
The Nicotiana Project's Flue Cured section in Flue Cured Varieties:
http://nicotianaproject.net/flue_cured.htm
Whoo-hooo!!! This sounded like a fantastic leaf to smoke, so I choose "401 Cherry Red Free" for my FREE seed pick. FmGrowit informed me that the last time he sent out a batch they did not germinate for the grower, but he would send them out anyway. From all the info I read about how to germinate old seed, I developed a plan to soak a few seeds in a weak saltpeter and Gibberellic Acid 3 solution. Recipe: 1/4 teaspoon of saltpeter in a quart of water and 1/4 tsp. of 500 PPM, GA-3 (a very weak solution). Once the seed arrived I started about 1/2 to germinate in a ziplock baggie on a paper towel soaked with a tablespoon of the 'germinating juice' and placed them on a heat pad that kept the seed at 80-85 degrees during the night. The remaining seeds were put in the freezer as 'back-up' seeds. Then about mid-morning when outside temps began to rise to 70 degrees the baggie were placed in shaded sunlight, but with no extra heating. After 60 hours, 2 or 3 seeds showed faint signs of life. After 72 hours, a few more seeds showed signs of life and 12 had 'white tips' busting out. Since those 12 seeds appeared to be sprouting, I 'planted' them in potting soil. None of the remaining seeds ever showed any further signs of life.
Once in the soil and a couple of days of waiting and checking every few hours for some 'green' to show, they slowly starting to perk-up and sprout. So far, 10 have sprouted. The 'backup batch' are now 'soaking' in a baggie and hopefully there will be at least another 10 or so to sprout.
To see what the Cherry Red Free plants might look like when nearing maturity here is an image from
The Nicotiana Project's Flue Cured section in Flue Cured Varieties:
http://nicotianaproject.net/flue_cured.htm
