Re: CULT: seedling temps

Hi Steve - I don't know the answer to your question, but am guessing the
ideal soil temperature for TBs is below 70o, maybe around 60oF.
Probably cooler for SDBs and MTBs.  Out in the garden, when soil
temperatures get much above 70 here, many cultivars pretty much stop
growing and/or rot.

Some folks in this forum have said that iris roots stop growing below
40oF.

So ... maybe ideal is halfway between?  Around 55oF?  But to get fastest
growth, it might be worth trying to keep them a bit warmer and lose a
few.  ? Or maybe aim for the highest soil temperature they would
encounter in your garden?

As for differences in survival of some of your seedlings last year,
some seedlings are weaker than others, some crosses produce more weak
seedlings than others.  If it's any comfort, maybe the ones that died
last year would have died in the garden even if you'd kept them alive as
babies?

One of the crosses here is dying about as fast as the seeds sprout;
other crosses in the same conditions but with tougher parents are
growing like mad.

I hope that helps a little.

< I am still learning and experimenting with seedlings and germination
rates, etc as many of us seem to be. .....   What I am wondering is if
there is an "ideal temperature" for seeds that have just sprouted?
Should I expose the seed with the new sprout to warmer temps and bright
light right away or wait for the sprout to develop "legs" in the cooler
environment a bit before exposing it to higher temps and bright
lights?...  Steve M. zone 4b.>

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
talk archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
photos archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/>
online R&I <http://www.irisregister.com>

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