RE: HYB: Seed planting

Hello, Brian,

 

We are all very informal on Iris-Photos and Iris-Talk.  I know very little about germinating irises in any place that has long, cold winters.  I see you have some nice, healthy seedlings in your pots, but if you had to pot several hundred of those seedlings, you are certainly going to fill up your house with them.

 

I find that irises grow better when the ground is fairly warm, at least 60 degrees F.  This month here has been about 10 degrees below normal, and it’s a little too cool for the newly transplanted babies to develop new roots, but I expect a big warm up any day.  From what I’ve heard, many hybridizers in your part of the country plant their seeds outdoors in the fall, let them winterize over winter and come up naturally in the spring.  Are your potted seeds where they get plenty of light?  They need bright light to germinate, either Grow Lights or sun.  

 

I did learn that it was worth it for me to plant directly into the bed where they are expected to grow for a year or two.  Transplanting is too hard on my back.

 

Francelle Edwards  Glendale, AZ  Zone 9

 

-----Original Message-----
From: bdavis3738@aol.com [mailto:bdavis3738@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2004 11:09 AM
To: iris-photos@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [iris-photos] HYB: Seed planting

 

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

 


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