SEED PELLET MIX

Seed pelleting has been around for almost 80 years. It was first used for automation planting of sugar beets because of their irregular shape and later expanded into other vegetable seeds. Seed pelleting was later expanded into seed encrustation. This technology allows seeds that are different in weight, size and shape to be planted using automated planters.

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The introduction and cost of GMO seed, the industry decided that powdered mix for seed pelleting must be improved. Every seed has its own genetic makeup giving it a natural rate of germination. No seed likes to be pelletized or encrusted. Some find a way to tolerate the addition of material and others cannot. The goal is to find the right material and addition rate allowing the seed to perform best.

 

This is where the magic takes place. A basic seed pellet will fully encapsulate the seed with material that adhering to the surface building a round sphere. The material and method can consist of many different material and binders. Each seed pellet formulator keeps their formulation close to the vest. In essence all seed pelleting formulation is different.

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PT 18P

Some 20 years ago an earlier version PT 18P (seed pellet mix) was introduced to the world’s market. The bulking material was soft wood rather than a mineral base or hard wood. The advantage of the soft wood over mineral and hard wood base is that when used in an automatic seed planter, the soft wood prevented cracking a fracturing as it bounced down the planting shoot. This ensured all of the seed treatment stayed on the seed rather than breaking off in in the automatic planting process.

 

Over the years, PT 18P improved its formulation. The current seed formulation has been used as the go to seed pelleting mix of choice for several major seed pelleting companies. In recent years there were 3 global seed pelleting companies that were on the verge of closing. Their seed pelleting mix gave low a percent germination. I was copied on the problem. In the report from their European corporate office, it was noted that some of the young germinating plant with poor growth also had strange red rings on the young plant as it developed.PT 18P was introduced to save those companies. There are several other cases where PT 18P was used to replace or existing formula was modified to improve performance.

 

PT 18P has the highest rate of germination seed pellet mix. Even with the best seed pelleting material germination may be just as good or slightly lower than bare seed germination. This is because of a number of factors. First, seeds do not like to be coated. For some seeds they can tolerate being coated with little or no effect. Others seeds when coated will not germinate at all. Second, the operator plays a big role in how well the seed germinate. Seed pelleting is an art. Some operators do a great job and are consistent. Others can cause major problems with seed germination. In one incident, the operator left the seeds in the dryer too long killing all of the seeds.