Hi!

A few weeks ago I asked about the seed germination recipe and Francisco suggested to use a 15% vinegar solution to soak the seeds for 1 hour to simulate the natural digestive tract of a bird.

My 2 modified processes, results of which you see in the attached photos:

1.
- Get the seeds clean of all pulp. Soak the pulp overnight, agitate, this will separate almost all the seeds, use the ones which sink. Repeat for 3 days. Do not dry them before putting into the soil mix.

2.
- Get the seeds clean of all pulp. Soak the pulp overnight, this will separate almost all the seeds. Agitate well in the morning, use the ones which sink. Repeat for 3 days.
- Put them into a glass container in a mix of 15% vinegar and tap water for 1 hour.
- Agitate well for 2 or 3 minutes, then rinse with tap water. No drying.

To summarize my short experiment, I can say that the 15% vinegar helps germinate the seeds quicker but the main push comes from the soaking the seeds for 3 days + high temperature during the germination!

The tray photo has the results, all seeds went into the soil on Aug. 21st:
On the left side, PA stands for the Panachee seeds (bought at a Whole Foods market store, CA fruit). Top 9 L cells: the seeds were processes using the approach 2 (with vinegar).
Bottom 9 L cells: method 1 (just water).

On the right side, BL stands for the Black Lebanese seeds (collected from a tree in LA, CA fruit). Top 9 R cells: the seeds were processes using the approach 2 (with vinegar).
Bottom 9 R cells: method 1 (just water).

The middle 36 cells are the Panachee and BL seeds that were dried after the soaking. They are clearly not as happy although not completely hopeless.

The tray with the seedlings is kept outside in a shade. It is quite hot outside during the day. I noticed that the higher temp (>80F) helps with germination as well.

Thanks!

P.S. The clam shell contains the Black Mission seeds that were processed in the vinegar solution.

When you talk about simulating an animals digestive tract you are referring to scarification.. not germination. The scarification softens the seed coat to allow moisture to penetrate which then starts the germination process.

I use scarification for raspberry seeds since they have a very hard seed coat. They can lay dormant for decades until the seed coat is compromised in some way (forest fires will do this).  I use hydrogen peroxide... soaking the seeds in the 3% solution for an hour then diluting it 50% with water for another 24 hours. Then into cold moist refrigeration for 120 days for the germination.

I'm not sure fig seeds would need this though as I didn't think they had an impenetrable seed coat. I tried some seeds this summer from a dried fig from turkey (bought at the grocery store) and most sprouted just putting them in damp warm conditions. The vinegar could kill off any bacteria I suppose though acting as a disinfectant so that might increase germination percentage. A bleach solution of 1 part bleach 9 parts water for 15 minutes then thoroughly rinsed will do that also.

Good luck with the seedlings :)

Tyler

Tyler,
Thank you for your clarification and relevant points. Yes, you are correct, the process should be referred to as the scarification.
I also tried to germinate the persimmon seeds and with some scarification they sprout much quicker.

I will try to post the updates if the seedlings survive. I am especially curious about the Panachee, will they produce the striped figs or revert to green?...
Only time will show.

This is an update on the seedling progress. They grow like weeds and I have way too many of them now. I wish I knew how to ship them safely. I could just share them with those who wants to have some green fig trees around for Christmas :)
I uppotted some Panachee today. I want to see how they like the soil and the larger pots.
I have now seedling from Panachee, VdB, Unk. Pastiliere, Black Mission, Unk. Green with red center, 184-15, Lebanese Black . I think indoors they will get to 1 ft by the next spring easily.
Obviously, there is no guarantee a grown up seedling would look like the named parent or will ever produce anything eatable. 

Alan,
I think a seedling may produce a fig in 2-3 years (assuming it will). A seedling that started last February (7 months ago) is 6 ft tall and 3/4 inch thick. It was the fastest growing fig tree for me this year. I can see a lot of bumps above the leaves, they may be branch starts or figlets. I will see next year.

I just started my first seeds, I didn't get nearly the germination you did.... I'd love to keep watching how yours turn out... Thanks so much for sharing!!!

GRamaley,

Please see this link:
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/black-mission-tj-6365753

It doesn't have the latest photo of that Mission but will give you an idea. I will update it tomorrow. 
The seedlings do not care about the soil, moisture, water etc. , the more the merrier. They are much easier to take care of.

Alan,
I tried the dried Greek and Turkish figs that I found in a local ethnic store. The Turkish ones germinated, the Greek have not ...
I don't have the Turkish seedlings though, they were overturned by some animal outside and dried to death before I got to them.

I can hardly wait to see how your panache turn out!!

@greenfig  
 I have started some fig seeds soaking..  I hope I have the good luck you had.  I used seeds from a pack of dried, light tan, Turkish figs.  I hope they are viable.

Soni,

I soaked the seeds for 3 days before planting them, changing the water every day. I used a very light seed propagation mix, covered until you see the 2 actual leaves growing (those will be the leaves 3 and 4). Don't bury them deeply, just a little under, and keep in a warm place. 

Good luck!

I'm counting figs befor they hatch but,  I hope  to plant a hedge of them and see what develops,  I may have a hedge of rootstocks but sounds like fun .

Soni,
I am not sure if that would be a great idea. Looking how my Feb seedlings grow and develop, I wouldn't want to plant them in the ground from the very beginning. They would be VERY invasive and almost impossible to get rid of. Their roots are totally crazy.
I would grow them in pots until you ID the good ones and then take an air layer or root some cuttings and then plant them in a hedge.  It seems the cutting root system is a bit different.
I might be way off on this, this is just my observation. 

Who knows more about the seedling/cutting root system difference, please add to this.

 Yikes !  glad you told me this.   That's interesting about the roots system. I was told cuttings dont grow tap roots but noone told me what seedlings roots would do.  Do you think the roots would slow down after a cultivar was grafted onto the tunk? 

If the rootstock is a seedling, it would grow like a normal seedling regardless of the graft, i.e. the same crazy roots. It is good for the graft though since it will be no shortage of the energy. You have to trim all the suckers/rootstock offshoots all the time though (and there might be a lot of them).  

 Thanks.  I can still accomoadate quite a few in a different location.  I just have to see what they will be.  Its exciting.
  I like to try seeds out of everything. I had great luck with the seeds I scratched off a commercial strawberry, pineapple seeds, mulberry seeds,  cactus apples, etc.   Cheap enterainment..  lol

Yeap, I did the same and now I have to deal with a 6 ft nectarine tree (grew in 7 months)   :) 
I hope it will try to blossom at least once.

I wonder how the vinegar would work with dried seeds, I have some sycamore fig seeds and they always are spotty at best for germination, bo tree, elephant ear fig have always been very easy.  I also have germinated seeds from dried calimyrna figs.  I ended up throwing them away as I ran out of space, similar leaves to each other but different slightly.  You could always use some of these as rootstocks if they show traits you like, hardiness, vigour, branching, fruiting, early fruiting, even if they drop figs they may work as a root stock (if compatible).

I think the soaking for 3 days is more beneficial to the germination than the vinegar alone. I would try to soak first and at the end give a light vinegar treatment. Make sure you discard the seeds that float, they are just the empty shells, keep the ones that sink. Also, for different species check the germination temperature, it makes a huge difference for the success.