Seed
Greetings All,
Several people have asked about receiving seed from Lakeside Knickknack.
Yesterday I discovered it will not be possible for me to ship seed. As I was
applying pollen from tortifrons to L K flowers, I decided to check the
maturity of the seed from some of the earlier crosses. Even though the pods
are not brown nor have they cracked, I discovered that the seed had not only
sprouted a root which is not unusual but many of them already had small
leaves. On four pods of a cross of Lakeside Knickknack and Lakeside Baby
Face I counted 22 seed that already had leaves. The others have roots
showing. What a job it is to separate those delicate roots and leaves
without destroying the plants. Some of the roots are as much as an inch and
have become bound together. After my fingers became numb I used a wood
toothpick to release the seeds from the pods. By gently pushing from the
stem end toward the flower end I can work the seed loose. I have worked at
this for two days and will have to spend at least two more days to complete
the seed that are hurting. It seems that all of my seed have some roots
showing but some pod parents have less than others. If anyone has pods on
Lakeside Knackknack, will you please contact me if you have seed that have
sprouted? I have been told that this only occurs in the South but since the
weather was rather warm in the North this year I wonder if the characteristic
has shown up other places. I wonder if it is heat related or if it is a
longer growing season that causes seed to germinate in the pods.
I now have trays of little green plants showing where the seed were only
picked a few hours earlier. Since my seed must be planted at once, I will
not be able to contribute to the seed bank. I was looking forward to
receiving seed from this vast collection that could offer new genes for my
work.
Guess this is just another trial of growing hostas in the South.
Mary
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