Low Germ on Peas

[highwood]

I grow nitouche green peas and I did a germ test before cleaning and it came back at 82%. I thought well I will clean them and just seed them a little heavier. Well I did a germ test after cleaning and the germ went down to 62% mainly because of mechanical damage. What I am asking is, are these peas completely out of the question to use for seed this spring? To get to the right plant count I would probably have to seed at about 5 bu. per acre. Or is there a seed treatment that I can use to boost that germination rate. Thank you for any responses.

[hvincett]

When you cleaned the peas you should of sprayed water with a garden hose to dampen seed coats.

[kslseed]

It depends on why your germ went down. Is it because you damaged the peas during cleaning, loading and handling, or is it becasue of the vigore? We had peas with 90% before cleaning and 70% after cleaning and we are setup for peas exclusively. The important part was, that the 30% of non germing seeds had "deformed" sprouts counted as not a germ. With 1.5 kg of Thiram WP we increased the germ to 85%. But still the seed is only used because of a shortage of this variety, other wise we would not use such seed and until late May will have lots of worries. Joerg Klempnauer

[dave4441]

Your problem may be reduced by Thiram, but Apron or Allegience will reduce the effect of mechanical damage much more effectively then Thiram. Apron is systemic and will move inside the germinating seed and allow the plant to germinate. Mechanical damage can only be reduced through the use of Apron if the seedling is still viable at the time of seeding, ie if the embryo is dead, no chemical can bring it back to life. A real trick to problem seed like we have this year is to clean the seed as close to harvest as possible, ie cause the damage to the seed coat as close as possible to seeding and then there is a very good chance of saving the damaged seed. A damaged seed coat acts alot like a kabuli chickpea, allowing pythium to easy entry to the seed, due to the crack. Application of water can help soften the seed coat, but it takes alot of water to move the moisture content by much.