I first put the seeds in a tea cup, pour water (hot, but not too hot to touch) enough to cover the seed about 1 inch deep. Let them soak for several hours (this is the first stage of germination -- called imbibition) to initiate the germination process. Then I put a paper towel in a plastic funnel, pour the seed out onto the paper in the funnel so the liquid drains off, then I used a plastic irrigation bottle with a 1::10 bleach solution (1 part bleach to 10 parts water) to wash the seed until no more purple pigment leached from the seed. I then returned the seed to the cup and soaked them again in water to rinse off most of the bleach. Then I sowed them on the surface of moist peat moss and placed them into a ziploc® bag under fluorescent lights. They germinated in less than 24 hours.
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I discovered this by accident, when I was preparing some seed to sow in vitro I noticed there was dark purple leaching into the paper towel from the seed, so I continued the bleach rinse until it had all leached out of the seed and into the paper towel. After preparing the seed to sow I then planted half in moist peat moss and the other half in petri dishes of sterile nutrient agar. Wow, was I surprised when they all germinated within 24 hours.
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I discovered this by accident, when I was preparing some seed to sow in vitro I noticed there was dark purple leaching into the paper towel from the seed, so I continued the bleach rinse until it had all leached out of the seed and into the paper towel. After preparing the seed to sow I then planted half in moist peat moss and the other half in petri dishes of sterile nutrient agar. Wow, was I surprised when they all germinated within 24 hours.