Who Knows About Vegetable/Flower Seeds?

I am doing an experiment on germination and I haven't decided the type of seed I want to use for it yet. Any suggestions? I'm looking for a large seed like maybe a Lima Bean?





Thanks so much!

Who Knows About Vegetable/Flower Seeds?
beans germinate quickly - lima beans, english peas, snap beans could be compared for time to germinate or moisture need. Just use fully dried seeds of all three,
Reply:True seeds are plant embryos in a suspended state of development. Warm and moist conditions allows the seed embryo to continue developing into a plant.





There are two main types of plants which produce true seeds, angiosperms and gymnosperms. Gymnosperms are cone bearing plants like pines and fir trees. They don't have flowers and the seeds develop between the scales of the cones without a protective covering. Because of this, conifers are sometimes said to have "naked seeds".





Angiosperms are flowering plants and there are two types of these. The monocots include things such as corn, orchids and coconuts. These plants have seeds in which the first leaf remains encased in the seed. Corn kernels remain underground and the first leaves are actually the second pair. Dicots have a pair of "seed leaves" (or cotyledons) and they are easy to see in plants like beans or squash. Some dicots copy monocots in their growth however. Acorns are dicots, but the seed leaves stay underground tightly encased in the nut. These help feed the sapling until it has grown enough leaves to feed itself. If the acorn is unearthed, the seed leaves will be seen to form a pair, as they do in all dicots. Monocots have only a single seed leaf.





Besides moisture and heat, there are other factors which influence germination. Sometimes fire is necessary. The cones of many pine species have to be roasted in an open flame before the seeds can be released. This mechanism ensures the ground plants are eliminated by flash fires and gives the saplings a competative edge. Some seeds are coated in chemicals which inhibit germination. The chemicals have to slowly wash away from the seeds before they germinate. Some desert plants employ this stragety. It ensures the seeds germinate only under prolonged peroids of rain. Orchids have the most evolved seeds. These plants are monocots whose seeds are as small as dust grains. There is very little food for the baby orchid, and to grow it must land in just the right spot. If it is lucky enough to do so, a symbiotic fungus infects it and begins to feed the orchid minerals from decomposing organic material.
Reply:Lima beans are great. Kidney beans are great and right off the store shelf in the bags that would normally be eaten. You don't need the expensive packets that more often than not have chemicals on them. What do you want to look at with regard to your project and how do you plan to collect your information?
Reply:Read on the back of the seed packets at the store and you can tell how long you'll have to wait and how much sun, etc, you will need. Green beans are the most reliable where I live in Arkansas.


Good luck with your project.
Reply:try a coconut. it's pretty big and if it doesn't work you can eat it.