by Ray R. Collins

Purpose:
The wheat seed we have for use this year was obtained in 1999. We needed to know the germination rate so we could determine how close to plant it.

Methods:
We took about 50 seeds and scattered them on a damp paper towel. This was then rolled up and placed in a glass jar that had 3 cm of water in the bottom, which kept the towel damp. The glass jar was kept at room temperature, with no special lighting (ie my kitchen table). Four days later, when the biggest plant was 4 cm tall (including root) we counted the ones that had germinated.

Results:
21 seeds germinated; 26 did not. This is approximately 50%, so we need to plant the seeds twice as thick as we want plants.