FLOATING CORN seeds =not viable? >> pre-germinating corn

[applestar]

I'm trying to clear out my old stock of corn seeds, adn I had some old corn seeds -- 2009 -- so decided to pre-germinate them before sowing. I started out by soaking them, and most of them sank right away, but some of them are floating even after 2 hours.

Are these floaters no good? Do floating corn seeds mean they're not viable?

[Dillbert]

>>2 hours?

take two radish seeds and call me in the morning . . . (g)

[applestar]

Aw, ALRIGHT -- I'll wait a little longer. But I'm impatient!

But do floating corn signify they're not viable?

[tomc]

But do floating corn signify they're not viable?

At a guess only, I'd be willing to take the end of the wager, that floaters may not germinate.

[shadylane]

Sweet corn has a 50% germination for three years when shored in the right conditions...floaters would give me the idea to toss them out, they may not be mature seeds.

[joed2323]

Toss em and get some seeds you know are not questionable

[jal_ut]

Looks to me like you must do the test yourself. Soak them overnight, then plant them (or place for germination) and see if they germinate. Please report.

[Gary350]

If you roll seeds up in a wet towel and keep them about 100 degrees they will start to grow a root in about 12 hours. Unroll the towel look an see what they are doing. When roots are very short about 1/4" or shorter plant them. Any seed that does not grow a root is bad.

If your trying to sort bad seeds from good seeds easy thing to do it plant 3 seeds in each spot. If more than 1 plant comes up thin them out.

[Ozark Lady]

If they were eggs, I would say, yep! Or maybe. Eggs that float are old ones!
Try a test germination and give us your results and percentage. Then we can all try the same test and get an idea if this is a reliable guide to good and not good seed.
Usually I have seeds way past the expiration date and still get good germination, and my seeds have not been in frig or freezer for 2 years.
I have a lot of 2008 and 2009 seeds that are now seedlings under lights.

[applestar]

Thanks for all your replies.

OK, so I drained them last night and the floaters were still floating so I scooped them out to separate. And while all the corn had become softer with a little give when squeezed, the floaters had split or become mushy. (even though they "looked" like whole kernels).

So the FLOATERS are definitely bad.

Now, good or bad, the rest of the seeds had sunk immediately. (some of the initial floaters did sink during soaking but not many and when the water was poured out, they came bobbing out).

So I will be pre-germinating them. If you are interested, I'll tally the result and report.

Gary, I didn't think about putting them in a higher temp (I have them at room temp). Not sure if I can do 100°F but I could try putting the seed sprouter on the heating mat with the peppers.

[Dillbert]

got curious and started poking around. found a couple citations of "bad corn seed floats" - offered only as opinion/speculation/? - no "proof" / reason / rationale given.

also found citations like the 50% germination rate. this I rather am forced to reject out of hand. some "detail" to that assertion is missing because I've spent way to many miles on a Deere with a planter and then seen the fields to even _think_ half of it didn't germinate.

[applestar]

First bunch sprouted today
Gratifying that the one I wanted to grow most -- Double Red Sweet -- were pretty good germinters and I already have 20. Also 16 Howling Mob white sweet corn.

There were some squat orange colored kernels on the same cobs as Double Red Sweet which are flat and dark garnet red. They are probably some kind of stray crosses? 8 of those sprouted so I sowed them as well to see what they would do.

[applestar]

Here, it IS still early-ish. It's a week before last average frost.

This year, I'm trying a different method -- I'm pre-germinating them in my seed sprouter, then sowing them in 2" mini soil blocks to keep in the garage. Once they sprout, I'll either plant them right away or hold them a little longer under the lights if there is space available, or put them out in the sun until I can plant them.

I'm using web trays so the root pruning should take effect, but I'm not sure if corn taproots SHOULD be root pruned -- they may not be able to send down deep roots to keep from falling over. So I "intend" to plant them right away as soon as they sprout in the soilblock.





They were soaked on 4/18, drained and started in the sprouter on 4/19 at approx. 68-72°F first day, then mid-70's °F thereafter.
As of today,
_________________4/20/13__4/21/13__4/22/13__TotalGerm'd___ungerm'd___%
Double Red Sweet.......20...........27...........16...............63.................32.....66.3%
Orange Squat (x2x?).....8...........13...........10...............31..................2......93.9%
Howling Mob...............16...........28...........16...............60................12......83.3%

Howling Mob was left over commercial seed packed for 2012 from RH Shumways.
Double Red Sweet and "Orange Squat" was from saved mature cobs from growing the Double Red Sweet I think it was 2009 or 2010. "Orange Squat" kernels were on the same cobs as Double Red Sweet so I'm thinking they were stray pollen crosses (I think I grew Cherokee Long popcorn in the vicinity). The whole dried cobs with husks intact had been "stored" in paper grocery bags in the pantry.


(Ignore the germinating peanuts )

Golden Bantam seeds from saved cobs from 2008, shown among the corn seeds in the first picture, have not germinated yet so they are not in the above photo, but some are starting to show signs that they might germinate.

[hendi_alex]

About three years ago I took a new approach with my corn seeds. I began combining my fresh seeds with the old seeds. This is now the third or fourth year of doing this. I place two seeds every foot or so of row length. There are almost no bare spots and are very few spaces where just a single seed germinated. Off season, the seeds are kept in the freezer. Whenever there is a bare space, I just lift a seedling and move it to fill the gap. There is never any wasted corn seed at this location!

[applestar]

Sound like a good plan if you are growing same variety corn every year. Or if you don't care they mix as long as they shed pollen/are receptive at the same time?

One reason I'm starting corn inside and transplanting them this year is because every year I have trouble with chipmunks digging up my corn. I can keep birds from pecking up the corn with a netting or a row cover, but chipmunks will merrily just dig right under.

Once the corn starts to grow and the kernel is no longer eating quality, they won't bother the corn plants, but they ate practically every single Howling Mob I sowed in two waves. (If any of you remember, I tried soaking the seed corn in hot pepper water, etc. )

Hopefully, I will be able to grow a block of corn this time.

I'm planning to try this pollination method with these three (or four if Golden Bantam germinates, too) varieties:
viewtopic.php?p=295585#p295585

Corn seedling progress was posted here.