This 25lb bag of dry green peas...
...contains the split seeds of a variety of Pisum sativum (in the family Fabaceae).
And to my surprise, these seed halves can germinate! The plant embryo must be attached to just one seed half, or at least can be separated from the other half without damage. The germination rate for these seed halves, though, was very low (in the range of 10%).
The seeds grew into 5-6 inch tall plants -- before they began to fall. Maybe it's the tiny fruit fly chewing at the base of their stem, or maybe not. But for some reason the outer tissue at the very base of their tiny trunks is disappearing, leaving only a few thread-like strands of vascular tissue.
The plants were also unsuccessful at wrapping their tendrils around the provided supports. Even though the tendrils actually touched the supports, they seem to have forgotten that they are meant to wrap around other things, and not just in upon themselves. Was it starting life with just half of the normally provided nutrients that did these seedlings in? Or was it bad genes?
1 comment :
note that these small plants, shored up with more soil, in time figured out what to do. yeah, i think that's what i remember.
Post a Comment