Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

User avatar
pepperhead212
Reactions:
Posts: 3105
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:07 am
Location: Woodbury, NJ

Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#1

Post: # 8292Unread post pepperhead212
Wed Jan 29, 2020 5:25 pm

Anybody else fool around with this?

A couple of years ago I started experimenting with soaking seeds in GA-3 solution, as it is supposed to speed up germination, and maybe help old seeds germinate, were not germinating at all. I learned, early on, that it did not help tomato or pepper seeds. I used old, "trash seeds", and got a couple germinated from just soaking overnight in water, a little better germination soaking overnight in a saltpeter solution (something I've used for pepper seeds for many years), but absolutely nothing germinated in the GA-3, either the 1,000 or 500 ppm solution.

However, herbs and cucurbits benefited greatly, when I tested them. Basils, dill, parsley, and cutting celery were all speeded up, and a higher percentage germinated in each. Cucumbers also speeded up, with 100% germination, when I used the GA-3. And a really old (2006!) batch of Seminole Pumpkin seeds, that I had saved, had all 8 seeds germinate, when soaked in the GA-3! Amazingly, 3 out of 8 germinated when just soaked in water, though definitely slower.

I didn't notice any difference in the 500 or 1,000 ppm solutions, when I tried it with the herbs, either, so 500 ppm is what I've been using, the times I've used it since these tests.

This year, I'm testing some eggplant seeds - something I didn't test back then (maybe I didn't have any trash seeds). I had two types I wanted to test. First, some Neon seeds, which I saved some of last season, despite being a hybrid, only because the variety disappeared from all of the catalogs. And some Hari, which is my most productive variety, but it didn't germinate at all last year, despite only being 2 seasons old. So I wanted to see if the neon was viable, and if I would have to order more of the hari.

I soaked 7 or 8 seeds of each, some in the GA-3 solution, the others in a saltpeter solution (I would have done a control group in just water, but I didn't want to use that many more seeds). I was shocked when the GA-3 Hari seeds began to sprout in less than 48 hours, and every seed had sprouted in just 5 days! And still, after 2 weeks, none of the saltpeter Hari seeds has germinated (actually, I just saw one sprouted in that tray, 15 days after started). The GA-3 Neons were not as fast, but a couple sprouted, and a couple more in the Neon saltpeter dish sprouted a few days later.
ImageGA-3 treated Hari seeds, starting to germinate in 2 days, all germinated in 5 days. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageGA-3 Hari seeds, all growing, after 10 days. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageA couple sprouted GA-3 treated Neon seeds. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageOne saltpeter treated Neon seeds sprouting, 1-24 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

User avatar
MissS
Reactions:
Posts: 5598
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2019 4:55 am
Location: SE Wisconsin Zone 5b

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#2

Post: # 8304Unread post MissS
Wed Jan 29, 2020 7:19 pm

This is really interesting. It's a great study and too bad that it does not help our beloved tomato so much. It would be great if it did.

There was a thread at TV about this and Carolyn came to the same conclusion, that gibberellic acid did not benefit tomato seed germination.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=16816
~ Patti ~

User avatar
arnorrian
Reactions:
Posts: 737
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:37 pm
Location: Moesia Superior
Contact:

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#3

Post: # 11303Unread post arnorrian
Thu Feb 20, 2020 1:58 pm

I got some NAA (1-naphthylacetic acid), gibberellic acid, and butyric acid indoles (IBA) to try rooting some ancient roses I have in my yard. Will try gibberellic acid on curcubit seeds.
Climate: Cfa
USDA hardiness zone: 7a
Elevation: 140 m

User avatar
Nan6b
Reactions:
Posts: 1545
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 2:58 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#4

Post: # 11352Unread post Nan6b
Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:09 pm

Looking forward to your results.

User avatar
pepperhead212
Reactions:
Posts: 3105
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:07 am
Location: Woodbury, NJ

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#5

Post: # 11376Unread post pepperhead212
Thu Feb 20, 2020 11:41 pm

arnorrian wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 1:58 pm I got some NAA (1-naphthylacetic acid), gibberellic acid, and butyric acid indoles (IBA) to try rooting some ancient roses I have in my yard. Will try gibberellic acid on curcubit seeds.
I've used gels with NAA and IBA, to dip cuttings in, before putting in my cloner. I've had best luck with the IBA, but almost everything I am cloning is herbs. And something I do, which seems to give them more roots, is scar the stems very lightly, with a paring knife, about every 1/8". In basils, especially, those scarred areas are where most of the roots come out of.

I just tried GA-3 on some cauliflower seeds, because a batch of new seeds I got (a mix - the reason I got them). Only 4 of 8 pots got a seedling, and I had to put 2 or 3 seeds per pot! So I tried the GA-3, and I also tried it on the other variety that I had good germination on, and with about 20 seeds total, not a single one germinated in 2 weeks! With just water, I would have gotten something (I should have tried!). So brassicas must not benefit from GA-3.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

User avatar
Whwoz
Reactions:
Posts: 2461
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:08 am
Location: Trafalgar, Victoria, Australia

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#6

Post: # 11383Unread post Whwoz
Fri Feb 21, 2020 3:11 am

GA is used by some on some of our more stubborn aussie native plants, have not used it personally

Clkeiper
Reactions:
Posts: 284
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 1:31 pm

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#7

Post: # 11397Unread post Clkeiper
Fri Feb 21, 2020 7:08 am

where do you even get GA?

User avatar
pepperhead212
Reactions:
Posts: 3105
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:07 am
Location: Woodbury, NJ

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#8

Post: # 11409Unread post pepperhead212
Fri Feb 21, 2020 8:58 am

@Clkeiper, Here's where I got it first, a few years ago, when they had a deal on a kit, when I was just buying some seeds.
http://www.seedman.com/sstartga.htm
Later I just got some of the crystal stuff, really cheap, on ebay.

Today I checked those tomato seeds I was testing with 1,000 and 250 ppm, and just plain water. I think it was 500 ppm that I tried a couple of years ago, when it definitely did not help them germinate. This test confirmed it - the 1,000 ppm spoon had no seeds sprouted, the 250 ppm had 2 out of 6 or 7 sprouted, while the plain water had all of them sprouted! And these were some 4 year old tomato seeds.

I only tried these and the pepper seeds again because of the success I had with those eggplant seeds. Seems strange that it works on those, but not pepper and tomato seeds.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

User avatar
arnorrian
Reactions:
Posts: 737
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:37 pm
Location: Moesia Superior
Contact:

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#9

Post: # 11431Unread post arnorrian
Fri Feb 21, 2020 1:00 pm

Climate: Cfa
USDA hardiness zone: 7a
Elevation: 140 m

User avatar
pepperhead212
Reactions:
Posts: 3105
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:07 am
Location: Woodbury, NJ

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#10

Post: # 12691Unread post pepperhead212
Mon Mar 02, 2020 7:17 pm

Today I'm trying GA-3 on some more cucurbits, since it seemed to help with those I tested before. These are 3 Indian varieties that I just received today - long bottle gourd, round bottle gourd, and tinda gourd. Much earlier than I normally plant them, but I figured I'd test them, since I got a bunch of seeds in each packet. I'm also testing some bitter gourds - one variety that I won't grow again, so I'll use the seeds to test, and a white variety that I saved last year, so I'll see if it is viable. And another, 3 year old bottle gourd, again, just to test. The new seeds I have a control group, soaking in just water, and all the rest in 500 ppm GA-3. These types of seeds are notoriously slow germinating, with shells much harder and thicker than regular squash, so I figured I'd try this, since it worked so well with cukes, as well as some really old (2006!) squash seeds.
ImageTesting GA-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

User avatar
pepperhead212
Reactions:
Posts: 3105
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:07 am
Location: Woodbury, NJ

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#11

Post: # 13167Unread post pepperhead212
Sat Mar 07, 2020 5:35 pm

The GA-3 didn't really help the new seeds. The water soaked seeds of both bottle gourds sprouted in 3 days, only one in the GA-3; and one of the tinda seeds in each, so far. The old seeds seem to have benefited from it, though I didn't have a control group of those, since I didn't have enough. I was expecting a more positive result, since cucumber seeds benefited greatly, when I tested a few years ago. I had some old "free seeds" I got, that I couldn't grow, due to bacterial wilt, so I tested them, with a control group in water, and every one of the GA-3 treated ones sprouted quickly, while the water group was much slower, with less than half sprouting.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

User avatar
rdback
Reactions:
Posts: 171
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:22 am
Location: Z6b - NW Virginia

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#12

Post: # 13400Unread post rdback
Tue Mar 10, 2020 10:26 am

Very interesting tests!

I too have played around with GA-3 a few times with different pepper seeds. I came to the same conclusion - not effective. I haven't really used it elsewhere, but with your results, I might play around lol.

Thanks again for posting your findings.

User avatar
pepperhead212
Reactions:
Posts: 3105
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:07 am
Location: Woodbury, NJ

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#13

Post: # 13428Unread post pepperhead212
Tue Mar 10, 2020 3:37 pm

The latest test was with radish seeds. I had an old (2-3 yrs) packet (D'Avignon) with a lot of seeds, so I used that as the test seeds; the others, with only a few seeds, are the Wasabi radish, from Baker Creek.
ImageRadish seeds, started on 3-8-20, middle ones using GA-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Almost all of those radish seeds germinated in all of the groups, in less than 24 hrs, so the GA-3 wasn't really beneficial to them.
ImageRadish seeds germinated after less than 24 hrs. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today, I planted all of those radish sprouts, and all but one seed sprouted in each group.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

User avatar
arnorrian
Reactions:
Posts: 737
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:37 pm
Location: Moesia Superior
Contact:

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#14

Post: # 13487Unread post arnorrian
Wed Mar 11, 2020 5:36 am

For the first watering of sown seeds I use a local product that has auxins and rhizobacteria. So far so good. Last year every single seed I planted germinated. This year the only problem I have is with Tumbling Tom (red and yellow) seeds I got from CroatianSeedsStore. All other germinated at 99%. I have sown 100 cups with three seeds each.

I was a bit worried about the seeds I saved last year that I sterilized with bleach, but they germinated 100%.

Tomatillo is slow to germinate, but I have no experience with it, I don't know if that's normal.
Climate: Cfa
USDA hardiness zone: 7a
Elevation: 140 m

User avatar
pepperhead212
Reactions:
Posts: 3105
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:07 am
Location: Woodbury, NJ

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#15

Post: # 60100Unread post pepperhead212
Mon Jan 03, 2022 9:44 pm

I got my Seeds 'n Such catalog today, and noticed something that I hadn't seen previously anywhere - a seed soaking treatment for peppers, combining GA-3 and kno3 (saltpeter). I have used saltpeter for years, to soak pepper seeds, but I tried GA-3 by itself several years ago, and the peppers germinated slower than in just water, so I never thought about it again, for peppers, even though it works great for many other seeds.

While the catalog didn't give amounts, I did an experiment, adding some saltpeter to some 500 ppm GA-3. Then I soaked some old Maui purple seeds, and some extra chinense and annum seeds I didn't need, to see how the solution works. I didn't do any control groups, in just water, but I know about how long they do in a saltpeter solution, so I'll find out if this is faster. And if I get any Maui purple at all.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

Setec Astronomy
Reactions:
Posts: 716
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2020 11:12 pm
Location: New Jersey, 6b

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#16

Post: # 60102Unread post Setec Astronomy
Tue Jan 04, 2022 10:10 am

This still all sounds like a bunch of Gibberrelish to me.


Ha ha.

User avatar
Tormato
Reactions:
Posts: 3699
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2019 3:14 pm

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#17

Post: # 60105Unread post Tormato
Tue Jan 04, 2022 10:44 am

I haven't used it because I read years ago that it was illegal to ship thought the US Post Office. I don't know if that was true, or if so, is still true. I was going to use it for blueberry seed and blackberry seed.

bjbebs
Reactions:
Posts: 164
Joined: Tue Dec 17, 2019 8:24 am
Location: Illinois

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#18

Post: # 60122Unread post bjbebs
Tue Jan 04, 2022 4:23 pm

https://www.borealcuring.com/supergerm/supergerm.php

Cannibis grower-supplier in Canada. Don't know if US shipping is allowed. Cannabis growers have been using Gib. for old seed since the 60's. I've been told when it works plants tend to be leggy, even with high light.
Just me, but I'm too old school to try this. I don't have any seed on the endangered list.

User avatar
pepperhead212
Reactions:
Posts: 3105
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:07 am
Location: Woodbury, NJ

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#19

Post: # 60680Unread post pepperhead212
Thu Jan 13, 2022 4:38 pm

pepperhead212 wrote: Mon Jan 03, 2022 9:44 pm I got my Seeds 'n Such catalog today, and noticed something that I hadn't seen previously anywhere - a seed soaking treatment for peppers, combining GA-3 and kno3 (saltpeter). I have used saltpeter for years, to soak pepper seeds, but I tried GA-3 by itself several years ago, and the peppers germinated slower than in just water, so I never thought about it again, for peppers, even though it works great for many other seeds.

While the catalog didn't give amounts, I did an experiment, adding some saltpeter to some 500 ppm GA-3. Then I soaked some old Maui purple seeds, and some extra chinense and annum seeds I didn't need, to see how the solution works. I didn't do any control groups, in just water, but I know about how long they do in a saltpeter solution, so I'll find out if this is faster. And if I get any Maui purple at all.
Well, again it doesn't seem like GA-3 helps with the pepper seeds. The habaneros started sprouting on day 5 - about the same as when I use only saltpeter (which does work - I did experiments with that long ago, and the reason I use it all the time). And only a couple of old Thai seeds sprouted, fairly late, and no Maui Purples. I was hoping that if the two chemicals did more together, it would sprout some of these really old seeds, but nothing, so far.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

User avatar
pepperhead212
Reactions:
Posts: 3105
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2020 12:07 am
Location: Woodbury, NJ

Re: Treating seeds with GA-3 - Gibberrelic Acid

#20

Post: # 62101Unread post pepperhead212
Tue Feb 01, 2022 6:02 pm

Yesterday I made another 3 oz of GA-3 solution - 1,000 ppm - to use for soaking seeds that I've found them effective with. I set some Siam Queen Thai basil seeds in a solution of 250 ppm overnight, then put them on a layer of paper towels in a petri dish this morning, and one was already sprouted when I looked @5:30. This morning I also put some bok choy (previously I said this didn't work with brassicas, but I've had success with older seeds, that had better germination), chard, and spinach seeds in the 250 ppm solution. I only tried the spinach "just to see", as I read somewhere that this stuff makes it unnecessary to stratify the seeds. That isn't main problem with spinach - they simply bolt, no matter when or what variety I plant! I'm trying these in my hydroponics, since I cleaned out some of the baskets from the hydroponics - the flatleaf parsley just got too large again (I thought that I may have a smaller variety), the last bok choy was ready (I should have done this a couple of weeks ago), and the "spearmint" that I grew from seed, simply was not spearmint - didn't taste like any mint, and had an unpleasant flavor. I also trimmed back those overgrown dill, celery, epazote, and mizuna, getting 24 oz of mizuna.

The chard is a small variety, which I only bought to try in the hydro. It was in the 40% off Burpee's seed rack, and was the only packet I got that day - imagine that! I'll see if that and the spinach benefit from the GA-3.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

Post Reply

Return to “Seed Starting”