Evening of Tuesday, October 5:
Curiosity often gets the better of me, and I’m a little impatient when it comes to playing with seeds. On the evening of October 5 I peeked at my Quandong seeds.
I found mould.
Dang.
Okay! Still plenty to learn.
- I identified 10 seeds across a diversity of containers that had signs of mould.
- They were a mix of small (young) and large (old) seeds.
- They were in the sample jars as well as the Kerr Jar that had been treated with mancozeb. So, obviously the mancozeb being sprinkled on the bedding didn’t do the trick. I’m mindful that I sprinkled the mancozeb and THEN placed the seeds on top of it. This was me being cautious but obviously it would be more useful if the seeds were also treated.
- The mould hasn’t come from the bedding, but the seed itself. There isn’t any sign of mould on the bedding, just on the seed. Interesting.
- While the bleach seems to have reduced the incidents of mould (so far it’s much lower than my other attempts) but it hasn’t gotten rid of it.
- One container was free of mould. The plastic bag, despite having the most seeds, had NO signs of mould. Very very interesting.
A few ideas:
- I’m wondering if the reduced air cavity of the plastic bag is what is mitigating the mould.
- The seeds in the plastic bag are also “in” the bedding, while the seeds in the other containers are “on” the bedding. This has also probably changed the behaviour. This was me being a bit hasty I feel.
- I’m not convinced that sprinkling the mancozeb was a good idea. Next time I’ll try mixing it with water and spraying it over the bedding AND the seeds.
Evening of Thursday, October 7:
I opened my box again to investigate and found the following:
- Six more seeds have developed mould. All are in the sample jars – I’m beginning to think the large air cavity in these containers may be contributing.
- There seems to be this “goo” that develops on the surface of the seed right before the mould appears? I have no idea what this is.
- The plastic bag remains mould free. The Kerr jar has not developed any more mould, but I do fear for it’s safety.
I’ve taken my now 16 mouldy seeds and popped them in the worm farm. This is a nod towards an idea from my earlier research that suggested that worms would eat the mould but leave the seed alone…worth a try! Nothing to lose.
I will crack some more seeds this coming weekend and put together a second batch, applying what I have learned so far.
Sunday October 10:
Time for more quandong science! This time I had assistance from our youngest, Zo, who is an enthusiastic nut cracker since way back. Here is what I learned.
We cracked a pile more seeds and got 32 whole kernels. We split them into four groups, all in plastic bags, and treated them as follows:
- Group 0 is my original group from the previous week. Just a bleach treatment and no after treatment, in a foodsaver plastic bag.
- Group 1 was not treated with anything. No bleach solution, no treatment to the bedding. This was placed in a foodsaver resealable bag.
- Group 2 was treated with the 1:9 bleach solution, as well as being soaked in mancozeb after that. The mancozeb solution was also poured onto the bedding (I following the dilution on the packet). This was placed in a foodsaver resealable bag.
- Group 3 was treated with a 1:9 bleach solution, and then lemon juice. This is a bit of a wildcard, but why not! This was placed in a small sandwich bag, kind of a generic one.
- Group 4 was treated with a 1:9 bleach solution and then sprayed with a solution of eucalyptus oil and water. Again, this was placed in a small sandwich bag.
You’ll notice that I varied what plastic bag was used – I only had a few of the foodsaver resealable bags on hand, so I compromised and used some generic small sandwich bags. The foodsaver bags are much thicker with a firmer seal, and the one-way air valve allows me to exclude much more air.
We made up these different groups and put them away to wait and see…
Saturday October 23
Inspection time! The results are in:
| Group | Date | Treatment 1 | Treatment 2 | Bag | Result |
| Group 0 | 2/10/21 | 1:9 solution of bleach | none | Foodsaver | Fine |
| Group 1 | 10/10/21 | None | None | Foodsaver | Mould 🙁 |
| Group 2 | 10/10/21 | 1:9 solution of bleach | Mancozeb solution | Foodsaver | Fine |
| Group 3 | 10/10/21 | 1:9 solution of bleach | Lemon Juice | Generic | Mould 🙁 |
| Group 4 | 10/10/21 | 1:9 solution of bleach | Eucalyptus oil | Generic | Mould 🙁 |
Even the seeds not treated with bleach succumbed to mould in the foodsaver bag. So, this does indicate that the bleach step does something. Neat!
The mancozeb treated seeds were fine. The two groups in the generic plastic bags (lemon & Eucalyptus oil) did not fare well at all – the difference is so dramatic I’m inclined to think that the bag played more of a role than the treatment method. Bad science on my part, I should really repeat the experiment with all food saver bags.
I’m also not so sure that limiting the amount of air is a good thing. I know that seeds actually need oxygen in order to germinate. Have I saved the seeds from mould but now they’re suffocating and wont germinate?
I’ve resolved to hold off on any more experiments until I see if any of this batch of seeds does germinate. I’m mindful that lots of these seeds are quite old as well, and so their viability may not be great already. I’ve had them waiting for about a month now, and the process can take several more.
All in all, I have around 30 seeds that have survived and not gone mouldy 🙂 I’m hoping one or two will play along!