It might help if you knew the 'why' behind this process. The magic elixir behind the seed germination process is water. Seeds MUST be able to imbibe water in order to kick start cell metabolism and growth. Seeds with thick, hard coats take much longer to absorb moisture, obviously. Those seed coats are so lignified that they are practically water-proof. Other plants have seeds so thin and porous that they are highly absorptive.

By scarifying that seed coat in some way, we can speed up that process dramatically. Commercially, it's done by tumblers, abrasives, acids, etc. I've always used sand paper or a nail file.

Humans have observed and duplicated the process of seed scarification for generations.

I understand why conifers, etc. have a thick seedcoat and require scarification, but why do you think MGs also have such thick coats? On conifers, it help get them through the Winter. But what's the purpose on MGs? They're tropical, so a scarification period doesn't seem necessary. Just curious.

Hi mutantplantlover - I'm wondering if you might be confusing stratification with scarification (?)

Morning glories are not just tropical but inhabit USDA zones 3 to the hottest portions of the world.

The thick seedcoats on some of the many species helps the embryo to retain enough moisture to stay alive for extended periods of drought,withstand being eaten by certain herbivorous animals / insects , enables the seeds to float via labyrinths to facilitate wider dispersion and other reasons that may help survival that may or may not be related to the temperature zone...

The practice of chipping the seedcoat allows water to gain access to the embryo which will start the germination process unlerss the seed is dead or if there are dormancy related factors involved such as particular temperatures , mineral content of the water etc...

The seeds with intact seedcoats need to see a certain 'amount' of water in the wild otherwise they might sprout prematurely at a light rain, instead of when the ground has been soaked enough to sustain a full grown plant as during a rainy season...

There are so many urban myths regarding various MG's that it's virtually impossible to keep up and try dispelling them all...the biggest MYTHS are related to fertilizer and transplanting...

There are many different types of 'fertilizer' and because of that the word fertilizer is a fuzzy term that does per se indicate the specific NPK ration or content of other seco0ndary nutrients and trace minerals...

MG's will benefit from a phosphorus containing bloom booster since it is high nitrogen which may inhibit flowering.

MG's can be easily transplanted at any time in their life cycle (as from experience I've been routinely transplanting various species for most of my life on this planet) by making sure the plants are well watered for several days before transplanting , during transplanting and gradually acclimating transplants into full sun while keeping them well watered...

I can only surmise that those who claim that MG's cannot be transplanted are not following the guidelines I mentioned above , which should be 'second nature' to most gardeners with experience in transplanting...

Hope something I shared is helpful...

typo correction :

This part here :...the word fertilizer is a fuzzy term that does per se indicate the specific NPK ration or content of other seco0ndary nutrients and trace minerals... "

Should be ..."fuzzy term that does not per se indicate the specific NPK ration or content of other secondary nutrients and trace minerals... "

Thanks, Ron. Excellent information. As of today, 18 of the 21 seeds are up and around 4 inches long. Never had such a high percentage of germination. These are from Japan, so I'm anxious to see what they produce.