Mind's Forge : X-ray Mutagenesis on Brallier Tomatoes

5/15/26

I had a lot of success growing these Prescott Heirloom tomatoes and collected seeds last year in 2025.

I received an email about x-ray mutation and that inspired me to break out the old x-ray chamber.

I've bagged up 4 sets of 10 seeds in 1"x1" 2mil baggies:

A: Control group - no x-ray exposure
B: 4v, Repeatedly exposed probably†
C: 4v, Same as B, except more
D: 6v, 10 seconds

†I thought the HV module was broken because I wasn't measuring any x-rays outside the lead enclosure except on a few occurrences, but every time I disconnected it and powered it on it would arc between the HV output wires. I eventually just stuck the counter INSIDE the enclosure and found that it was truly powering on. That's when I was able to do the exposure for sample D

Voltages above are being fed into the HV module similar to the one in that youtube video linked, or in this eBay search.

Excerpt from video description:

Today I took a look at the crazy MC105 "400kV" DC high voltage step-up boost inverter from Ebay. The actual voltage may be about 20-30kV. The module created about 2-3cm long very bright and very loud sparks, then it stopped working after several seconds.

I planted the seeds in 4 rows of 10 in peat pods from past failed germinations. They're in a tray under an LED grow light on a germination warmer pad.

5/22/26

Had a 0% germination rate in a week... EVEN THE CONTROL GROUP (NO XRAY EXPOSURE) very confused. Harvested NEW seeds from this season's ripe tomatoes for a second attempt. I hope the used peat pods aren't the issue. Again the protocol:

A: Control group - no x-ray exposure
B: 4v, 5 minutes
C: 4v, 10 minutes
D: 4.5v, 1 minute (probably a bit more since the counter crashed/was overloaded)

Wish I had something that could really measure x-rays, maybe something with a probe that isn't connected to the circuit because I bet there's enough EMF in there with the x-rays to throw everything off too (from the HV module, etc).