I just read in one of my catalogues about using liquid smoke and water 1:9 as a soak to aid germination of plants from fire-prone environments. Has anyone tried this? Thanks in advance.
ok I haven't figured out how to edit yet. Anyhoo just found a couple of Australian websites recommending this treatment as well. I'm wondering if this method might be good for woodland plants subject to forest fires in the NA Rockies? Les
Some seeds of some plants virtually will not germinate without being exposed to fire, but the changes caused by fire are going to be different than those caused by smoke or "liquid smoke". There is not a lot of information on this because most of the plants that take over after a fire are regarded as weeds, and most of the research on weeds is about killing or avoiding them. Ralph
It is heat from bushfires that help many of our native seeds to germinate. They have adapted over millenia to this. Not sure what liquid smoke is can't say I have heard of it. Just read a web site out of Australia to do with cooking they say not common and available from a few dellys over here . It is a US. thing some sort of ingrediant. On the first web page at bottom it speakes about smoke as an aid to germination http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s73587.htm http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenf...568400012B7A55EDCE94D4AD3D6E54A256DEA0013E4B6 Liz
A lot of research on this topic has been done at Kings Park Botanic Garden in Perth. Dr. Kingsley Dixon, et al. found that many western Australian plants were aided in germination by chemicals in the smoke and that applications of distilled smoke could greatly increase the germination of some fire zone plants. I have purchased smoke powder products to aid germination. They are often sold along with wildflower seeds in Australia. The germination requirements of plants vary and I know in some cases the heat of the fire is responsible for breaking down seed coats. It certainly would not be a bad thing to try out some of the smoke products on seeds from other fire-prone areas.
Les--I found a liquid smoke product in a grocery store here, and poured it on my flats of romneya (a chaparral species from California in this case, which can be tricky to sprout). Got a nice flush of germination on the treated trays. My snooping turned up the general suggestion that seeds that aren't germinating are sometimes helped by smoke...a good thing to experiment with. And it's not always predictable, some species with no connection to fires can be prodded by the stuff. One thing I noticed with the liquid smoke (used in barbequing by "normal" people)...there were two types, one with just smoke extract and water, the other had some other ingredients I think like salt and preservative...I paid more for the "pure" smoke stuff, not confident about other items in the germination environment!
Thanks friends I too have a "smoke" that I've use forever on steaks. Checked out the ingredients "natural liquid smoke" which because of Canada's labelling laws I'm assuming is smoke through water otherwise they would have to list the sodium and additives. How great that it's so cheap at the grocery store (shhhhhhh or they might raise the price LOL) I think it's worth a try on seeds from NA woodlands. Les
