I’m processing melons for seed at the moment. I’ve noticed significant variability in whether seeds float or sink. For instance yesterday I processed two. For one, just about all the seeds sank and I was able to float off the gunk. For the second however, almost all floated. On inspection, the vast majority of these floaters seem like good seed being firm and plump.
Do you only keep the sinkers and discard all floaters?
Hi Ray. Interesting question
I watched Joseph saving only pumpkin seeds that sank. I noticed all my pumpkin seeds floated so i had to take the time and sift through the fluff.
I’d love to be able to sélect towards that time saving feature but i’ve got no sinkers in my twenty or something Maxima mix.
I guess they contain a little air bubble inside which makes them float. Or does Joseph break that by dumping everything in a mixer?
I don’t know anymore but i start to believe Joseph got to earth on a ufo . Maybe hé was punished or something…
On a serious note, i’d save seeds from both but plant more sinkers so they get to dominate over time.
Or safe them apart and do two seedings side by side. Equal amounts, to find out which ones germinate better. If there’s no différence sélect towards sinkers…
Ha ha I wonder the same thing sometimes!
Anyway, good advice, thank you. I’ll save them separately and do a comparison next season.
Interesting about the pumpkin seeds. I’ll be processing pumpkins for seed in May/June and I’ll test for floaters and sinkers then.
In general, I like to see seeds sink but some seeds like melons, squash, cucumbers have a little coating on the outside and if air gets under it, they float. I generally deal with small quantities, so I just put them in a sealed bottle with water and shake it up real hard. This usually gets that bubble out or sometimes removes that coating. Any that still float after that get pitched. I figure that coating is there for a reason and don’t try too hard to remove it. I prefer the seeds where it stays intact but the seed sinks anyway. Seeds that insist on floating, after washing like that, are probably just empty shells.
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I haven’t checked germination, but I think I can quite well distinguish ripe seeds. If floaters seem mainly ripe looking I save all, but if most sink then I will use that and save only those that sink.
I completely disregard the floated/sank idea. I have done side by side tests with a number of plants and the only correlation I have found is that those seeds which are already visibly dead will invariably float. Discard those, and the number of viable seeds in the floating population is just slightly lower.
The problem is that if there is any air inside the seed, or air bubbles stick to the seeds, they will float. This does not prove they are dead seeds.
I have also had seeds that sank not germinate.
The last test, every single seed floated. Most germinated anyway.
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I actually do to, sort of. I generally have more than enough seeds, so a quick rinse and pouring off the floaters is fine with me even though a lot of those initial floaters were probably fine if I had been more careful in my process.