20/06/2017 - Damping Off

After some inquiries in the Morning Glory Lovers facebook group I got a very informative reply from Convolvulacea expert Ron Kushner. It appears my germination problems might be caused by "damping off". Rapid bacterial or fungal growth which spoils the seeds before they have the time to develop properly. Here's the full post:

" The seeds in the initial photos are mature and have adequately developed embryos , in my opinion...Many seeds have pre-emergent type of 'damping off' organisms in them...Some conditions cause the pre-emergent organisms to grow very quickly and cause damage before the seed can go into an active phase of germination , as imbibation is simply the tissue swelling ...even a dead thing can often swell from absorbing water...||...The active phase of germination is when there is active cell division occurring , usually first indicated by an elongation of the radicle...|Generally speaking I have found that seeds which are healthy, but react by stalling after imbibation , are seeds which don't like to be started quickly by soaking , but prefer to germinate slower in the ground and there's no way to determine ahead of time , except by how whatever seeds you have tried have responded...|...Turbina cortmbosa typically will behave the same as very infected seeds if you soak them for long, by bursting and expelling the embryo like an infected abortion...although seeds from the same exact batch will sprout if planted directly in healthy pro-biotic ground, which takes longer than the quick start method , although that is how they have evolved to survive despite any of our human interaction...|...Smoke tar (which contains butenolides \ karrikinolide(s) \ karrikins) is probably the best germination stimulator that there is... | "

If this is indeed the case a possible solution could be soaking the seeds in a weak hydrogen peroxide solution to sterilize the seed coat and any emergent bacteria or fungi during the germination process. I will definitely experiment with this technique in the future.