That's happened to a few of my seedlings. You can try misting it often to see if that will soften it. I usually get out a straight pin and a pointy tweezer and gently tease the seed coat off.
Karyn

I use two straight pins that I carefully split the coat along the seam by spreading the pins. Tweezers would work like Karyn said but be careful not to snap off the cotyledons (first two leaves) or your seedling is history. Bill

Just to echo Bill's comment. Be VERY gentle if you try to remove the coat. It is easy to damage the cotyledons by forcing the coat off. Once the cotyledons are damaged/broken, you may as well throw the seedling away. I like the idea of misting the coats to try to soften them. It may also help separate them from the cotyledons.
Mike

Hello Andi, I found that I had success if I actually lifted the whole seedling out and held the cotyledons firmly whilst doing what Bill has suggested with a needle or pin. The seedlings are much easier to handle as I found if I tried to deal with the seed coat whilst the plant was in situ I invariably broke the top off. Don't forget there is sometimes another "skin" almost invisible around the cotyledons which also must be removed for the cotyledons to be released.
Hazel.

Hi Karyn1

Some seedlings are not strong enough to push off the fibrous sheath they are encased in.

You may need to help them by moistening the sheath and gently peeling it off. Otherwise, the seedling will turn brown and die. I spray them with water, wait a minute and with a pointy tweezers remove carefully the outside layer. There is also a second layer, like a white piece of plastic that keeps the cotyledons together, that have to be removed as well. Just take your time and be careful.

If they don't come out easily, sometimes I wait until the next day, spray the seedling and try again.

If you have broken cotyledons, plant them back in the soil. They will root and the broken seedling may send another shut. I just replanted today two broken cotyledons with roots, If I can, I will removed them of the potting mix and take pictures to post them.

Hope it help,

Cecilia

I did help the seed coats off and they little guys/gals are growing great. They are about 4 inches tall and already have 2 sets of leaves, I think one of them is trying to branch but won't know for a few more days if its successful.
Andi

Glad to hear the seed coats came off easily Andi. Plumie seedlings are so big that removing the seed coat is usually fairly easy. It's the small seedlings that I have problems with. Mine didn't start branching until they were about 6" tall and had a number of leaves. I'm not sure what prompts branching when there's no damage to the tip. Now for the long wait until they reach blooming size.
Karyn

Karyn,
The long wait is a pain but I now have an actual collection that will bloom shortly. I have gone from the 2 that I bought last year to 10 seedlings that are growing, 25 new seeds germinating, and quite a few cuttings in various stages of rooting. I also have 4 well rooted bigger plants that should bloom for me this year. I have inflos on the following:

Miami Rose
Key West Pink
Aztec Gold
Unknown Yellow
Playful
Texas Sunshine
Unknown Red

To think that just a short time ago I only had 2, now I have a nice Lil' plumie patch.
Andi

Andi do you have any plants with inflos that you've grown from seed? I hope I have the patience and space to wait. I had good results with rooting cuttings this year and it looks like all will be fine. This is the first time I've rooted cuttings that had inflos and I'm glad that I decided not to remove them. None of my mature plants have inflos yet so at least I'll have blooms from the cuttings. You'll have to post pics once your plants start blooming.

Karyn

Karyn,
This is the first year I have tried to grow from seed so none of them have inflos as of yet. The seedlings are only a few months old as I started them on 4/15/07. I will have to rely on my mature plants and cuttings to keep me in plumie blooms for a couple years.
Andi