Viability testing lets you record the germination rate of your seed Accessions in Terraware, giving you an accurate picture of how viable your seeds are over time. You can add a viability test in three ways.
Add a viability test
Through the Viability Tests tab:
- Open the Accession details page and click the Viability Tests tab.
- Click Add Test.
Through the Viability card:
- Open the Accession details page and click the Viability card.
- Click Add a Viability Test.
Through a withdrawal:
- Open the Accession details page and click Withdraw.
- Select Viability Testing as the purpose. This will take you directly to the viability test form.
Complete the viability test form
- Select the Test Method:
- Lab Germination — for germination tests conducted in a lab environment, where seeds are not placed in soil to germinate.
- Nursery Germination — for germination tests conducted in a nursery environment, where seeds are placed in soil or pots to germinate.
- Cut Test — for destructive cut tests used to determine the viability of a batch of seeds.
- Select the Seed Type:
- Fresh — seeds that were recently collected and have not been stored in the seed bank. Recommended for establishing a baseline viability for a new Accession.
- Stored — seeds that have been stored for any length of time. Recommended for monitoring viability over time to ensure seeds are used before viability is lost in storage.
- Select the Substrate — the surface or material the seeds are germinating in or on. Options depend on the test method selected:
- Cut Test — no substrate options.
- Lab Germination — Agar Petri Dish, Paper Petri Dish, Sand Petri Dish, or Nursery Media.
- Nursery Germination — Media Mix, Soil, Sand, Moss, or Perlite/Vermiculite.
- Select the Treatment — any biological, physical, or chemical technique used to break seed dormancy or speed germination:
- Soak — immersing seeds in water to break physical dormancy.
- Scarify — weakening or opening the seed coat to make it permeable to water, breaking physical dormancy.
- Chemical — treating seeds with a plant growth hormone or other chemical to break physiological dormancy.
- Stratification — exposing seeds to alternating temperatures to simulate natural conditions and break physiological dormancy.
- The Testing Staff field defaults to the current user. Select a different user if needed.
- Enter the Start Date — the date testing began.
- Enter the Number of Seeds Tested — the quantity of seeds used in the test. Enter this value only once.
- Click Add Observation to record germination results. For each observation, enter:
- Check Date — defaults to the current date.
- Number of Seeds Germinated on that date. Click Save after adding each observation. Note: You can add observations at any point during the testing period as seeds germinate.
- When testing is complete, click Mark as Complete. Terraware will calculate the viability percentage and give you the option to set it as the Accession's viability.
- Add any Notes as needed.