Re: HYB: Soaking seeds (was on photos

Tom, keep in mind that those are <only> the <easily removed> water
soluble inhibitors.  Five days in the ground with a good soaking rain
will get rid of those, easily happens over the winter in wet winter
climates like yours.

Other, more stubborn, germination inhibitors require cold stratification
(vernalization) to be de-activated, sometimes more than one cycle.  See
Paul Archer's post.

Also quite a bit about this in the archives of iris-talk.

The worst part about those inhibitors is that one day with the "wrong"
(i.e., too hot, too dry, too much diurnal variation?) conditions can
reverse the process and even send them into deeper dormancy so that it
may take even more cold cycles to 'wake them up' again.

My <very> limited experience is that some IB and some pink TB seeds will
start to germinate after about 2 months of chilling (plus soaking), but
most of my crosses take at least three months of chilling.  After one
round of germination following the three months of chilling, quite a few
from some crosses can be "fooled" with a short warm, dry spell, followed
by another short chilling cycle, into germinating more seeds.

Some, however, require a second real winter outdoors to germinate.
Paul's procedure with a controlled diurnal temperature cycle might
improve germination from these.

And then there are those wretched crosses that never germinate - not
ready try to excise embryos yet - doubt I have the patience for it.

Plus those (mythical? <g>) crosses with California genes that will
germinate right away  in any temperature without any chilling or
soaking.

Tom said:
<I'm thinking / hoping that brown stuff is    the germination
inhibitors.>

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
talk archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
photos archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/>
online R&I <http://www.irisregister.com>





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