Grapebreeders Home Page

Fungi problems on the seed:

 

Some seed lot can be very contaminated even they look healthy. I have tried 3 or 4 disinfections with H2O2 will no results on the problem. But I have great success with a homemade seed-mill. All you have to find is a round butter-cake box ( >8" ), and a very slow running drilling machine.

 

    

Drilling machine fixed on a working bench.

Now add a bolt through the bottom of the cake box, and tight it with a locker. Put some sandpaper in the box, as showed on the picture. Add the seeds, put on the cover and start the drilling machine at a very slow speed. If it runs to quick, the seed will be forced around together with the box. If the seeds slide freely over the sandpaper, let it run for 10-15 minutes.

See the mill running here, 256 kb/s

See the mill running here, 768 kb/s

Now this mill was originally design to scarify the seeds, but it was to gentle to the seeds. Now it seem that the contaminate is attacked to waxy layer on the seed. This treatment will remove most of this layer, but not all. The problem lot I have tried in the mill, never had any problem after this process.