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Wallingford,CT

The next spring of 2006 I tried to germinate 6 of the better looking seeds and all failed using the zip lock bag method. The next 6 gave the same result. Finally before giving them all the toss I opened a few seeds to seed what they looked like inside. The seeds were completely formed but the cotyledons were only about half full. I thought this may have been the cause of the germination failures. This deserved ‘one more try’. I removed the entire shell and tried the baggy germination again. This time there was sign of life when the radical formed. Normally I then bury the seed in potting soil and wait but this time I made a small hole in the soil for only the radical and left the cotyledons on top of the soil as if they had already pushed their way up and out. The pot was covered with clear plastic wrap and put under a desk lamp for about 18 hours a day. The cotyledons became plump but no leaves ever formed and it was discarded. I repeated the process with another seed and this time it was successful. It was placed outside after the first true leaf had formed. I grew it as a reduced size plant in 100 sq ft producing a self pollinated fruit ultimately 365 pounds.

The second case is similar but much shorter. In 2007 I had reason to make another cull. Again this time on day 20. The difference however is that this time the seeds were harvested on the day it was culled. These were normal size but pale and without any suggestion of tan color. They do not appear to be ‘white’ seeds but simply immature. They were washed and dried as the previous cull. When they were completely dry I opened several of them to find they were all empty and very light weight. It is obvious there is no chance for these to germinate.

8/4/2007 2:08:37 PM

Omaha, NE (N41-15-42 )

Bart, Interesting info. Thanks!

I've been doing genetic crosses on secondaries and then slicing the secondary off of the main vine and letting the fruit continue to grow in an effort to get seeds. I've had a couple of successes and a couple of failures. I've got a fruit at 81" which is on a 12' piece of secondary detached from the main vine of my 898 plant and is still growing 1" a day 12 days after being cut from the main. I cut it to allow a better positioned one to grow, but damn, makes you wonder....

8/4/2007 11:01:52 PM

Nashville, TN

I've had many viable seeds from 35 day old 'harvests'... Some as early as 30 days - but there are far fewer mature seeds in the early harvests....

8/6/2007 10:24:26 AM