government seeds

this past thurdsay i received some maize seed and seed from two accessions of teosinte from the from the ars-midwest area plant introduction research unit in ames iowa to use in a morphological demonstration in the community garden on campus...the seed arrived intact and, obviously, the maize won't be planted until next may, however i wanted tot est the viability of the teosinte seed...

so i soaked ten seeds from each accession in a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide for twenty minutes ( nothing new here...a standard for germinating around here )...put the seed in brown paper towel dampened with distilled water and and folded the toweling into appropriately marked baggies...those went into a dark, reasonably warm place to see what happens germination-wise...if it all goes well there will be seedling teosinte under the lights downstairs in the plant room...more on this project as it comes up...literally.