Re: CULT: gremination
- To: Iris-talk@onelist.com
- Subject: Re: CULT: gremination
- From: R* B*
- Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 13:09:46 -0500
- Content-Disposition: inline
From: "Rodney Barton" <rbarton@hsc.unt.edu>
Christy said:
<I'd like to hear how the rest of you are doing with your seeds, too.>
The following from the 98 SIGNA seed exchange have germinated for me:
I. crocea
I. typhifolia
I. cycloglossa
Alophia drummondi
Alophia pulchella
Sisyrinchium idahoense
Dierama pulcherrium.
From the SPCNI seed exchange I have seedlings from two I. munzii lots.
From recents private swaps (Thanks again!) I have I. pseudacorus and
Sysrinchium californisomething.
These represent about half of all the species iris/irid seeds I've started this year.
Germination rates have been good to excellent.
I use different techniques depending on the seed. Large seeds are soaked overnight,
treated with dilute bleach, rinsed and placed in a small plastic bag with a piece of damp
filter paper. At the first sign of germination they are tranfered to small peat pots, in
my usual, home potting mix (equal parts of soil, sand, peat*). The smaller seeds were
planted directly into peat pots in the same mix and put into plastic bags. The seeds
of hardy species were stratified for up to 6 weeks in the vegetable crisper, and checked
regularly for germination. After that time they are removed from the refer and placed
on top of it or on a window sill (the ones in pots).
If I don't get germination in a few weeks they get cycled in and out of the refer. (See
the archives for an excellent post by Sharon on enhanced germination techniques. http://www.mallorn.com/lists/highlight.cgi?bits=3&search=enhanced+AND+germination+
AND+techniques&URL=iris-talk/jan97/msg00081.html#marker)
If I don't get germination by mid summer, I try a trick that I've never read or heard about.
I allow the seed's to dry completely for a month or more and then rehydrate them. For
some reason this seems to work well with water irises that are reluctant to germinate.
As a last resort, buy more seed the next year. That's guaranteed to intice your old seed
to germinate. My I. cycloglossa from the 97 exchange just now germinated. Buying more
I. typhifolia, I. crocea, I. typhifolia and A. drummondii also seems to have ensured the
revival of plants I thought I'd lost last summer. Too bad it didn't work for I. munzii. :)
* Heated at 300 F for about 2 hr and rewetted with water that had been boiled for 15 min.
I've had trouble in the past with fungus in peat pots. This year I boiled them in water for
about15 min and have had no problems.
Later!
Rodney
Rodney Barton
Hickory Creek (North Central) Texas, USA
North American Native Iris web site:
http://molly.hsc.unt.edu/~rbarton/Iris/NANI.html !
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