From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Cape Cod

I am getting a late fruit set. At this point all I am hoping
for are seeds that will be viable. Same thing happened last year, and even though the seed looked mature, none germinated.

Is there anything I can do that might speed up the development and maturity of the seeds?

8/17/2003 5:31:03 PM

Montoursville, PA

Hope for late frost and a little luck.

8/17/2003 5:55:11 PM

Caceres, mid west of Spain

high potash fertilization is said to do that.

8/18/2003 2:04:58 AM

Syracuse, NY

i would expect that the faster the fruit grows, so too would the seeds inside. i intend to be culling-down to 3 fruit per plant asap and then down to 2 by the end of this month no later. there will be a lot of nice crosses lost, but none that can't be re-created in the future. i have found that as long as the fruit is at least between basketball and beachball-sized, there will be at least a few mature ones in there....if you are concerned about the seeds being full, you can use a laser pointer to shine through the seed, thereby seeing how full the seed actually is...(and being careful not to shine it in your eyes, of course!!!)...starting from the point to the rounded end, if any light gets through, that is where the seed leaves end inside the seed...a good place to do this is right under the desk where your computer (and seed-trash bin) are located...at night. sometimes, though, the seed leaves themselves are really thin, so if the seed itself is a thin flat one, be a little less stringent. hope this helps somebody! 'pal

8/19/2003 5:58:28 PM

Whidbey Island

The other thing to do is dry all your seeds and come plantin' time, carefully (!!!!) split the seeds along the edge and expose the embryo inside. It will be readily clear which ones are good, and those can be put between moist paper towels until a root appears, then placed into your favorite planting medium. Good luck.

8/19/2003 10:58:01 PM