Smoke - Magic Ingredient in Germination

Home

Our Seeds Store

Seed Sowing Guide

Testimonials

Resellers

Articles

Smoke - Magic Ingredient in Germination

WILDFLOWER SEED STARTER - The Germination Booster for Australian Native Plant Seeds

Smoke As A Catalyst to Germination

Extensive research over several years at the famous Kings Park and Botanic Garden in Perth, Western Australia and at several other organisations has shown that the seeds of many species of Australian native plants benefit from - or even require - the naturally occurring chemicals in the smoke from the burning of Australian bush litter as a catalyst to germination.

Australian bushlands often regenerate quickly after a bush fire. Much of this is due to the germination of seeds after the fire. Seeds are often released after the fire into a bed of ashes or are already in the soil covered by ash. When good rains arrive chemicals from the smoke held in the ash and soil help to trigger the germination of the seeds.

The burning of leaves and grass on top of potting mix before sowing the seeds will also work for some seeds - but this can be impractical in a home environment.

Our Packaged Wildflower Seed Starter

Convenient, effective, economical, natural and safe. This is a granular material (similar to Vermiculite) containing the smoke and chemicals from the burning of bush materials. It is designed to be sprinkled on top of the soil or potting mix after sowing the seeds. The first watering of the seeds will release the smoke chemicals from the Seed Starter to wash around the seeds. Alternatively, for seeds which need to be soaked in water before sowing, the Seed Starter granules can be placed in the water with the seeds.

Wildflower Seed Starter is recommended for most of our range of packaged seeds and it will not harm others in our range for which smoke treatment is not normally required. In addition, smoke treatment can also help produce stronger seedlings - in many cases improving their survival after germination. The chemicals of smoke held in the Seed Starter are - as far as we know - safe to handle despite being a little strong smelling.

Outside Australia

Smoke treatment should assist the germination of Australian native plant seeds in other climates - given the right soil conditions and proper care from the grower.

For best results follow the instructions on the selected seed envelope and the additional instructions on the Seed Starter envelope.

Happy Growing

(** Keep watching this page. We will post some more articles about smoke treatment and some links to sites offering further reading on research into smoke treatment. ** )

Active Chemical Identified

The Magic Ingredient now has a name.

Collaborative research at The University of Western Australia, Kings Park & Botanic Garden and Murdoch University has identified the active chemical in smoke that stimulates seeds to germinate. The chemical was originally classified as a new member of the Butenolide group of chemicals but remained un-named for a time.

Researchers recently received approval to name the chemical Karrikinolide, inspired by the Nyungar Aboriginal word karrick, meaning 'smoke'.

To read more about the research and the findings, one of the authorative references is :
Flematti, G.R., Ghisalberti, R.L., Dixon, K.W. & Trengrove, R.D. (2004) A Compound from Smoke that Promotes Seed Germination. Science, 305 (5686), 977. Doi; 10,1126/science.1099944

Smoke Treatment for Weeds

Aboriginal science used in war on weeds.

Perth-based researchers are using an Aboriginal technique to fight weed infestation by making them germinate at exactly the same time. Director of science at Kings Park & Botanic Garden and UWA professor of plant biology, Kingsley Dixon and his team have isolated a chemical in smoke has the ability to ‘awaken’ seeds and get them to germinate.

Called karrikinolide in honour of the Nyungar people who have always used smoke treatments, the molecule also triggers germination of plants that rarely or never experience fire, including some agricultural weeds.

“This opens up the prospect of using karrikinolide to make weed seeds sprout before a crop is planted, so farmers can use a knockdown herbicide without affecting productivity”, Professor Dixon said.

“The research has shown, in some of Australia’s most noxious farming weeds such as wild turnip and wild oats, up to 70 per cent of the seeds can be induced to germinate at rates equivalent to just 1g of active agent per hectare.”

More details at: http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20080204-17130-2.html

Alternatively, a Google search for Karrikinolide will bring up a good list of articles related to the role of smoke in horticulture.

The following excerpt was published in The Profiler April 11, 2008
http://healthysoils.gov.au/library/scripts/objectifyMedia.aspx?file=pdf/108/55.pdf and adds another fascinating aspect to the value of the newly identified chemical Karrikinolide found in smoke and shown to trigger the germination of seeds.

[Note: The link provided above appears to no longer include the artiucle from The Profiler but instead links to Australian Government publications about Soil Science. I include it here for those who may be interested, until I can relocate the correct link or some other relevant sources.]