Re: more questions from the newbie

Laurie; One of the first steps in understanding species is to find out where they grow in the wild. Iris attica is from Greece. It grows fairly near the Seacoast as well as around some of the ancient ruins and on Mt parnasus. In the mountains it may get some cold but probably not a lot. It is probably hardy to zone 7 and it is not surprising that it would germination with just cold water. Freezing might actually kill it.

laurief <laurief@paulbunyan.net> wrote:
Hello Everyone,

First, please allow me to apologize for not responding to the answers you
so kindly provided a couple weeks ago when I first asked for advice on
species seed starting.  I read all your suggestions and devised strategy
plans for all these seeds.  What I decided to do first was soak all of
these seeds for a full month in the toilet tank tied in nylon stockings,
which is where they've been since Jan. 19.  I check on them frequently,
and much to my amazement, I *think* I am now seeing several seeds
(notably I. attica, and perhaps others as well) with what appear to be
small bits of white root protruding from one end.  Of course, it's
extremely difficult to tell exactly what I'm seeing through the
stockings, and I don't want to start cutting them apart until I have a
clear plan on what to do next in case those roots really are there.  So,
here are my next questions:

1) Does a root = germination?

2) Should I remove all seeds with roots from the stockings, pot them, and
place them under lights for the rest of the winter ... or should I leave
them in the toilet tank a while longer to develop longer roots (at this
point they appear to be only 1-2 mm long)?  We've still got a lot of
winter ahead here in MN.  It was -20F (ambient air temp) when I went out
to clean the barn this morning!

3) Should I return the unrooted seeds to the toilet tank until my
originally planned month-long soak is complete?

4) How deeply should I plant the rooted seeds?

5) Why are these attica seeds sprouting without cold stratification?  Or
is the cold water in the toilet tank both soaking and stratifying them
simultaneously?

6) What else do I need to know or do at this point?

I'm so excited at the prospect of getting even a few of these seeds to
sprout, I can hardly stand it!

Thank you in advance for any additional guidance you may be able to offer.

Laurie


-----------------
laurief@paulbunyan.net
http://www.geocities.com/lfandjg/
http://www.angelfire.com/mn3/shadowood/irisintro.html
USDA zone 3b, AHS zone 4 - northern MN
acidic clay soil


Yahoo! Groups Links


Yahoo! Groups Links
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index