Re: Re: HYB: Freezing Iris Seeds

 I read of high germination rates from several of you who don't
> resort to such elaborate procedures and then wonder why anyone would want
> to or feelArnold
> 
> Arnold & Carol Koekkoek
> 38 7th Street, NE
> Sioux Center, IA 51250
> e-mail  koekkoek@mtcnet.net
> 
> 
   Arnold, I think I stated in an earlier post why I freeze my iris seeds.

   I live in a very humid, buggy climate, and if I don't freeze them, mold
or insects attack them before I can get them into the ground in the 
fall.

    Many times, our winter is so mild hardly anything germinates, so 
the stratification the seeds get in the freezer helps in that 
department.

    I can tell no difference in the types of freezers.  I have used 
the chest type and the modern frost-free types with no ill effects to 
the seeds.  We have had power failures in the winter because of ice 
storms and the freezer has been off for hours.  Again, no ill effects 
have been noted.  If a power failure extended into days, then I would 
remove the contents of the freezer, including iris seeds and set them 
outside in the cold.  I should add that my seeds are  thoroughly 
dried before they are stored in pill bottles and placed in a box like 
a shoe box and then into the freezer.

    In nature, seeds are going to go through the freeze/thaw cycle 
many times before winter is over, and a power failure would be like 
such a cycle.

   Anyway, whatever works for a hybridizer and whatever he is 
comfortable with,  he should continue doing.  I doubt that I would go 
as far as using liquid nitrogen since the regular freezer has been 
good to me and never let me down in about thirty-five years of 
freezing iris seeds.

   Walter Moores
   Enid Lake, MS USA 7/8


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
FREE COLLEGE MONEY
CLICK HERE to search
600,000 scholarships!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/zoU8wD/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/2gGylB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index