why are my seeds green?

deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b

9 years ago

OK. I haven't noticed this before, but I have two jugs doing this now. I used basic fresh soil, no chemicals, etc, no manure. A basic good quality soil mix. I've used it in the past. The first time I WS I watched the jugs compulsively, so I would have thought I would have noticed if it had happened that year. These seeds are not sprouting, but are greenish now. I haven't picked one up yet, but they almost seems as if they could have a powdery coating on them. The green is bright, so it doesn't look like a mold, especially since there are no other signs in the soil of issues. Just the seeds. Has anybody seen this before? They are salvia seeds. I believe I the other seeds doing this are Rudbeckia.

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Comments (4)

mnwsgal
9 years ago
If the mix has been quite wet it might be a moss. I don't remember if the seeds turned green but I have had the perlite in the mix turn green.
hidden oasis (7b)
9 years ago
Yes, have seen something similar to this before in my WS jugs. Either moss or maybe algae? Didn't affect the sprouts and the plants grew up just fine.

Here's a link to a discussion about algae:
Algae in Containers
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deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b
Original Author
9 years ago
Would algae affect ONLY the seeds and not show up on the soil? The strange thing here is that the soil mix is fine, all black with no growth, but just the seeds are affected.
gardenweed_z6a
9 years ago
I don't know where you're located but I'm in southern New England. I started winter sowing in 2006 and have repeated each year since. Nothing has ever affected the seeds in my containers; not warm winters, frigid winters or other influences. To date I've WS more than a thousand containers. Relax and let Ma Nature do what she does best.