Question about unerupted seedling

[adron]

Sounds good Pete, I have both of those utensils so I will be utilizing them to the fullest advantage

Going to have to wait until about 7pm tonight however, will report

 

[lordbudly]

the membrane just looks like thin plastic , and u just gotta maneuver it off

 

[adron]

That took a bit of jerking around, I hope I didn't damage :\

 

[lordbudly]

ooh pics pics

 

[adron]

I'll post one up of it tomorrow night if it recovers at all

 

[420oclock]

The skin starts up the stem where the leaves are curled up. If you ran an exacto knife or pin up the stem you could catch under the membrane and pry it off.

Spraying with water and a drop or two of dish detergent will moisten it and make it easier. The dish soap helps the water penetrate better.

Excellent advice. I have a set of ophthalmic surgical instruments and a head loupe for magnification. Still, I'm only successful about 80% of the time.

 

[HeadyPete]

<hoping for pix>

 

[adron]

Sorry fellas but the seedling is looking exactly the same, it looks as though I'm going to be pulling her. Thanks for all of your insights though, at least now I know what to do in the future.

 

[FreezerBoy]

Next time, try a standard #11 X-Acto blade. Slice membrane between the leaves (like opening a new LP if you're old enough to remember those) Leaves will open and membrane will shed over time.

Warning, X-Acto's are surgically sharp! Be careful.

 

[adron]

Thanks for the input!

 

[Oxirous]

I'm sorry it did not pull through.

-O

Sorry fellas but the seedling is looking exactly the same, it looks as though I'm going to be pulling her. Thanks for all of your insights though, at least now I know what to do in the future.

 

[doob-e-pufr]

hey all,
Sorry caught thread late. When this happens to me, I use a pair of super finepoint tweezers. Pinch them together, gently place points where when you UN pinch shell pops off. If membrane still on, pinch tweezers together, gently place points between cotlydons?, UN pinch. Works for me!

 

[Mr. Stinky]

The casing doesn't seem to want to come off. I've posted a picture:

surprised noone mentioned the reason he lost this one. look at the stem at the ground level. damping-off...probably too wet. healthy seedlings usually dont have any trouble pushing off the seed-case...but one with a rotten stem will, and it wont matter if you manually remove it or not

 

[searcher]

that stem sure looks bad.. if a seedling is that weak anyway imo i wouldn't want it. so many people over water, just barely moist guys. most of my babies have the seed off before they go from paper towel to soil.