Re: Another germination topic

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From: b*@ymail.com

Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 8:38 PM

To: iris-species@yahoogroups.com

Subject: [iris-species] Another germination topic

I have been reading all the seed cutting posts with interest, and may give it a try this year.  One of the other valuable tidbits that was in the last SIGNA bulletin was another comment also in Elm Jensen's article on forced germination of Aril seeds.  The section I'm referring to was:  I remember one other mention about seeds from another short article in that same 1962 yearbook. "On Planting Seed" in which Eileen Heinze of Australia stated: " I have found that the closer they are together, the more evenly they come up (Heinze, p. 52).  Whether using the forced germination method or planting the seeds naturally, now I always cluster the seeds together and have found doing so leads to having more seeds from a cross germinate.

This struck a chord with me because I have observed that when I plant in a fairly small pot, I see that most of the seeds seem to germinate at nearly the same time.  But perhaps more strikingly, when I stratify the seeds in a baggie in the fridge, I often find when one germinates, many more will germinate very soon.  This is true for iris seeds and rose seeds.

OK, so this begs the question; does a germinating seed release a stimulation cue to the seeds around it?  And further, if this is the case, can we further use this to help germinate the particularly hard to germinate seeds?  What would be great is if there was an effect and it crossed species; then we could soak and stratify seeds, then put them in a little mesh bag inside a bag of germinating wheat (or some other cheap, easy to sprout seed) and wait for them to germinate, then plant them.    Of course their is also the possibility that the seeds sprout at the same time is because conditions are right, not the proximity to another germinating seed.

Amazing what long winter nights will get me to thinking about.  I did find an interesting review article in The Plant Cell by J Derek Bewley entitled 'Seed Germination an Dormancy" which can be found at http://www.plantcell.org/cgi/reprint/9/7/1055.pdf  That should kill one or two cold nights.

Anyone else think see they see the germination stimulates germination effect?

Bill