Corn Vigor - 50F Saturated Cold

Corn Services

Method

The 50F saturated cold germination test is a high stress vigor test. In this 10 day test, seed is placed embryo down onto cold 10C saturated soil and kept at 10C for seven days in an anaerobic environment. The 25C grow out period lasts three days or 100 GDD (Growing Degree Days). Saturated cold testing emulates imbibitional chilling shock and low oxygen micro-climate similar to planting at 50F soil temperature and receiving significant rain immediately after planting. See our resource Saturated Cold Test Evolution for more information.

What is Reported

Normal and abnormal seedling, dead and slow normal or UV (uniformity varies) are recorded.

Value of results

SoDak Labs reports saturated cold results different than other labs. We separate the normal into "strong" (normal) and "UV" (slow normal). This separation can help identify inventory that may be slowly losing seed quality.