[SOS-PCA] Moldy Seed Lots

[Mary_Byrne at blm.gov]

FYI -

Please see this message from Nita Rauch at the Bend Seed Extractory, she
would like to remind us that pods take a lot longer to dry than we
sometimes think.

Bottom line: do not over pack your bags and dry material out before
shipment.

Mary


I was just checking in some MELA2 that was collected in August; delivered
to us late yesterday (9/9/08).  In the middle of the grocery bag was a pile
of moldy material, including seed, stems & pods.  Normally, I wouldn't have
even open the grocery bags during check in, but because seed was in the
bottom of the box, I knew at least one bag had a leak, so proceeded to
transfer seed to a barrel.  That's when I spotted the mold.  The material
sounded crunchy and dry when holding the bags, but when I dumped them into
the barrel, segments of the collection were covered with mold.

 Please re-iterate that the "feel" test isn't enough for forbes/podded
material or heavy seedheads.  They hold a lot of moisture even after they
are surface dried.  So far, I've only opened 2 grocery bags, both with
clumps of moldy material in the center.  The smaller paper bags were OK, so
far.   Because it was so thick in the center of the grocery bags, air
circulation wasn't as good and therefore, mold is happening.

We get bags each year (not just from SOS clients) where too much material
is packed inside the bag and it wasn't dried out long enough.  It's a shame
to spend all that money collecting and then to have the seedlot be only
partially available because of moldy in the middle of the bag.

Wanted you to know, so future seedlots are not jeopardized.  Later,  NJ


Mary K. Byrne
Seeds of Success
Bureau of Land Management
202-452-7767
www.nps.gov/plants/sos/