Seed testing

[Linda_Foulis]

Hello,
Is there a "fast" way to tell if a seed is viable, even though it requires a cold period of several months in order to germinate? 

[Graeme]

GA3

[Lesley Cox]

For some such as Tulipa, Lilium, Fritillaria, it's easy to see a fertile seed, from the thicker, inner part and whether it drops cleanly onto a paper but most, surely it's a matter of "sow and see what happens?"GA3 is not available to everyone and even if used, is it 100% reliable? I mean, does it ALWAYS work to germinate the seed, assuming the seed IS fertile.

[Gabriela]

Hi Linda,
As Lesley said, in most cases, you can see even only after the exterior aspect if the seeds are 'good'. I recommend you use a strong magnifier lens - at least 40X. Even for very small seeds you can see if there is insect damage, cracks in the seed teguments, etc.

GA3 works for some seeds with simple dormancy (ie. they have an embryo fully developed and only need cold treatment). A strong 1000 ppm sol. will make them germinate, but not always.

Methods used in labs that can be done 'at home' - for medium and large seeds - the 'cutting test' - slicing the seeds to look, again with a good lens, at the embryo aspect and other details. Of course, one needs to have a bit of practice.
Another used method is the tetrazolium test (TZ test - please google and read about if interested).

[Linda_Foulis]

The viability test is on rosa acicularis seed.  I've had 98% germination on seed sown in the cold frame over winter, which is what I expect. 
I have no reason to expect different from this batch of seed, the only reason I was hoping for a fast germination method was that my customer purchased a considerable amount of seed, and they want more! 
I soaked some of last years seed, and some of this years seed in GA3, cutting the tip off of 2 seeds to expose the embryo, which was obviously present. 
Gabriela I'm going to google the TZ test, thank you.
And thank you all for your input.