Re: HYB: TB: seed variations

Chris, I wonder if some of the survivors in our two climates are more
likely to have delayed germination than those from more moderate
climate.

Now that I'm controlling conditions for seed chilling & moisture, I have
learned that a big part of low germination rates I've had is that most
of the crosses here require at least two chilling periods (two seasons).

Not many seeds from most crosses germinated last fall after 2 months of
chilling, a few more after 3 months, but a lot germinated after being
outdoors for a second round of 2 or 3 months of chilling.

This year is about the same for the refrigerated seeds - very low
germination rate after one chilling cycle.

Last year or the year before, at the Feb potluck, David Mohr told me
about experiments his dad did with dormant seeds.  They chilled them a
month in the fridge, put them in the greenhouse for a month, remove
germinated seeds, put the rest back in the fridge for a month etc for
several cycles.  They had very high germination rates that way, although
it took a lot of cycles for some crosses.

I bet their work was published in the Bulletin.  Maybe in the 70s?
--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
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