Alpine Pennycress (Noccaea caerulescens) growth from seed

[J. Tanner]

Hi there,

As part of my degree's dissertation I was hoping to grow some Noccaea caerulescens, commonly known as Alpine Pennycress, from seed. I have tried searching on the internet for tips and hints about optimum germination and growth conditions but have had little luck. Has anyone had any experiences growing Alpine Pennycress before?

Hopefully this is right area to post such a question.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Jon

[Maggi Young]

Hi Jon,
For me this plant- Noccaea caerulescens (J.Presl & C.Presl) F.K.Mey. is a synonym of Thlaspi caerulescens J.Presl & C.Presl   

I understand that in nature in the UK it mostly grows on rather unexpected sites- areas with old mine slag heaps and so on, so perhaps it doesn't need a really "nice" soil to grow in. I've read that it has been used to "clean" contaminated soils of heavy metals etc - so I suspect germination can't be too tricky.

We've had some talk of getting seeds of this previously : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11930.0

[J. Tanner]

Hi Maggi,

Thanks for the reply. Funny you should mention the other post. The original poster on that thread actually helped me source the seed I am currently using, they were quite hard to come by.

The project I am currently undertaking is directly exploring the ability of Alpine Pennycress's ability to clean up soil. In fact I am trying to germinate the seeds in a soil from a ex lead mine site on which the species is known to grow on in the 'wild'.

I was hoping someone might be able to give me an indication of the conditions such as whether or not seeds germinate best at cooler temperatures or in the dark etc. For example I know that the similar species Arabidopsis thaliana germinates best when placed at 4 C in dark for two days. I was wondering whether any such conditions may improve the germination of Alpine Pennycress.

[Maggi Young]

I don't think the Thlaspi needs deep dark - lightly covered seeds will do well, I would hope. I'd give a cold spell - though two days at 4c seems a very short time? Would have thought a couple of weeks was better.....

[Lori S.]

The Thlaspi I've grown from seed (admittedly only a few sowings of T. kurdicum and T. bellidifolia) have germinated at room temperature, without stratification (cold treatment), from seeds sprinkled on top of the soil (so not in darkness).  Germination occurred in 5 to 11 days. 
I guess that's not to say the species in question would necessarily act the same, though.

Unless it's actually supported by results from controlled experiments (several batches of seed, same species, given various different treatments), I'd tend to be skeptical that 2 days of cold treatment has any real effect on germination.  For species that actually benefit from or require cold treatment, it usually takes weeks of cold stratification for the seeds to break dormancy.   If the seeds sprout after 2 days of cold treatment, I'd very strongly suspect it's a species that didn't need cold stratification to break dormancy anyway, in other words, it would have germinated just fine without the 2 days of cold.  Depending on the nature of your research, you may be interested in looking up Dr. Deno's work on seed germination experiments - it's all in the public record now and available on the internet.

[Maggi Young]

  Depending on the nature of your research, you may be interested in looking up Dr. Deno's work on seed germination experiments - it's all in the public record now and available on the internet.

See here for links to Deno's papers
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=8368.msg311376#msg311376

[J. Tanner]

Thank you Lori.

I will go ahead a try and germinate them in the conditions you mentioned. Fingers crossed anyway.

[Lori S.]

Sure, if they don't germinate after 2-3 weeks (say if it turns out to actually need stratification), you could always chill them then for a month or so (e.g. put the pot in a plastic bag and then in the refrigerator), and then pull them out into room temperature again.
Or you could just leave the pot outdoors through the winter... I'm presuming you need seedlings ASAP, though.

[PQuosai]

Hello J.Tanner,
I am a student at the University of Guelph in Canada working on phytomining with Thlaspi caerulescens. I seem to be having the same troubles germinating the seed. I was hoping that you could help us shed some light on what had worked for you.