Re: SIGNA seed (sort of)

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I germinate my TB's and arilbred indoors (fridge) and then pot them up and grow under lights.  I usually start stratification in late November.  By March they are ready to be separated into little pots or bedding-flat cell packs.  At this point I make sure they have at least four leaves and the start of a rhizome and if possible the larger roots forming from the base.  I let them acclimate to being transplanted for about 2 weeks, still under the lights.  I then periodically place them outside when it's warm (at least 50 F) and sunny until it warms up more consitently and them leave them outside after that except for hard freezes and frosts.  They could take it but why harm them.  They are ready to plant in the ground by May and are about 6-8 inches tall and about 5-7 broad, healthy leaves and root balls full of thick roots. 

 

Done this way I get at least a few blooms by the Spring, occaisionally a Fall rebloomer.  I'm not too concerned if they bloom or not their first Spring since I'm not going to cull them except for the exceptionally poor ones, but it is nice to see a few blooms for curiosity's sake.

 

Paul Archer

Indianapolis, IN  Zone 5

-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Kramb
Sent: Apr 24, 2011 11:18 AM
To: iris-species@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iris-species] SIGNA seed (sort of)

 

The seeds I would have donated to SIGNA I kept instead to experiment with... all Louisianas.  I sowed the seeds in pots on my living room windowsill.  They stratified nicely there through the winter and began germinating in February.  (Not a high percentage, though.)

These guys (attached photo) were the first to germinate.  After about a month I potted them up individually and placed them in front of my terrarium so they could get supplemental fluorescent light.  I also started feeding them regularly.  Now they're 8 to10 weeks old (roughly) and they are well over a foot tall.  Normally I would have kept the seeds potted up outside, and they'd still be stratifying.  Clearly this indoor technique has given them a head start.  With refinement this technique could bring them to bloom a year or two sooner than normal.

Does anyone else germinate their irises indoors?  under lights?

Last year I got into carnivorous plants when I learned Sarracenia pitcher plants are cold hardy in Ohio.  They are strikingly similar to irises in the way they grow:  leaf production, rhizomatous, vegetative increases, bloom time, seed stratification requirements, years to reach maturity, etc.  And I've been reading the various techniques Sarracenia hybridizers use to reduce the maturation time of young seedlings.  One technique is to grow them under fluorescent lights 24/7/365, and it works!  Once they're mature though, they need the day/night winter/summer cycles to retain their vigor.

I'm not ready to try that with Louisianas, but it is awful compelling!  If I could get LAs to bloom within 18 months of sowing the seeds, well, that would be incredible.

Dennis in Cincy

PS: Happy Easter!