Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

Group: PathaJ, from Southern California blesses us once again with the following article from a plant pathologist - Dr. Deb Matthews at U.C. Riverside.


"Seeds can also be treated to remove any superficial virus contamination that exits on the outside of the seedcoat. Purchase some TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) from a hardware store in the painting section (be sure to get it with the active ingredient “tri-sodium phosphate”, there are some brands that have switched to a non-phosphate containing alternative chemical which is not as active against viruses, but works just fine for prepping paint surfaces as it is intended for). Make a 10% solution, e.g. 1 Tablespoon of TSP with 9 Tablespoons of warm water, dissolve the crystals and soak the seeds for 30 minutes. Rinse with clear water, dry on paper towels, then store for planting as usual. Germination for some seeds may be reduced somewhat, so if you have some valuable “heirloom” seeds, treat a few and check germination before treating the entire batch and finding out they won’t germinate and you’ve lost your stocks."

Jim Kennard

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