Re: HYB: Seed planting

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Hello Francelle,

 

Please forgive me if I am being to personal. I never know exactly how to address folks I have never met on a website. At any rate, I found your posting on seed planting outside versus in pots very interesting. I am looking forward to hearing more about the results. This past year was the first time I have seriously tried my hand at crossing iris. I have never had any luck before. I went a little overboard and ended up with over 1000 seeds. Oops! I too cured them in the frig for 4 months using the Sutton's method and then planted them all in pots inside the house. A few were already sprouting when I planted them. Most still have done nothing inside and I am still waiting for warm enough weather here in central Illinois to put outside. I  debated on whether or not to wait until spring to plant them or start them all inside. Since I still consider myself very much a novice, I am eager to hear what others are or have done..

 

Right now I have about 20 little baby iris growing inside. The ones that have sprouted I have transplanted to 4" pots to give them a little root room.  So far so good. I can't wait to get them outside and in the ground to see how they perform in the real world. The largest ones right now are not quite a foot tall. Should I have had more sprout by now or must one simply wait for warmer weather?  this is all new to me although it is really fun.

Here are a few of the babies. The crosses are as follows:

S27=Hook X Miss Jupiter

S19= Rustler X Star Fleet

S42= Christmas X Lord Olivier

 

Anybody else with any advice or experiences please jump right in. Thanks!

 

Brian Davis

Champaign, Illinois

Zone 6