HYB: germination method questions

I received the following note offlist but it has some questions I can't
answer related to the rest of the world.

First, I must say none of the things I was trying are original - I got
the burrito/toilet tank concept from Dana (whose post on Beary Beary
iris-photos still won't let me read yet, even after housecleaning!) and
the some of the other stuff probably originally came from Paul Black or
who knows who - sort of a compilation/reinterpretation of stuff I'd
heard here.

At the moment, I can't remember how the Paul Black method differs from
what I'm doing...duh.

Anyway, I saw germination in the fridge in only one cross as I recall,
and that was this year, seeds from an SDB X TB.  I will post some more
later about what I'm seeing this year re: germination.

Survival in relation to seedling size when planted out depends on the
time of year, weather (which varies tremendously daily, weekly, yearly)
as well as the physical characteristics of the seedling.  My soil is
gravelly, prone to dry out fast, so seedlings have to have some fibrous
root system (not just one long skinny tap root) to survive if it's
planted later than very early spring.  Depending on characteristics of
an individual seedling (genetics plus environment), those fibrous roots
may show up when the seedling is only an inch tall or may not show till
the baby is much larger.

The problem with lining out in very early spring is that we can still
get abrupt killing freezes (below 25oF) that last for hours into the
morning (mountain blocking sun) following weeks of balmy weather, which
can kill tender babies.

Easiest/best survival in <my growing conditions> is of seedlings that
are large enough to have started to develop a bit of a 'bulb' (baby
rhizome) at the base.  I cut the top 1/3 to 2/3 of the fan off
(depending on how lush it looks - take more off of the lush ones)-  as I
plant them.

Problems here with lining out smaller seedlings range from critters
large and small stepping on them, digging them up, ants & other insects
rearranging them, cutworms, instant mush in hot rainy weather from late
spring thru early fall, etc.

The only other seedlings I've seen growing are at Tom Parkhill's place
in Knoxville - only 50 miles north of me, but ideal gardener, soil, and
site.  He germinates seeds planted directly in the ground on
Thanksgiving, no pretreatment, gets excellent germination, often has
seedlings bloom the following spring.  He's been at this for about 50
yrs, so knows what he's doing, plus has a perfect soil/location for
irises for this general area, & enough experience with the lines he's
working with to know which will produce seeds that germinate readily in
our climate.

Paul Black tells me I will start having better success with germination
once I establish my own lines that are adapted to my own climate/growing
conditions/gardener and I'm already seeing some of this.
==================
I'm trying your burrito method for germination (published in iris-talk
Jul 2002) and have some comments & questions.
First, my focus is hydbridizing MTBs which may be a little harder to
germinate, not sure.  And I had a two year backlog of seeds
plus 2003 seeds to plant, so I decided to try an experiment using Paul
Black's published method and the burrito method and
combination.
Long story short==>Three batches of seeds contained enough seeds
(90-150) that I split them into thirds.  One third planted with
PB method and the rest soaked for 2 weeks in the toilet.  One third was
burritoed and the other planted outdoors ala PB.
Did you see germination in the frig and then plant seeds or did they
germinate only after planting?
Your comment about the seedlings being too small to survive made me
curious for more detail.  Can you describe in more detail the
size?  Is the poor survival at this size related to your climate or is
this a general trend countrywide?   I 've only noticed poor survival
when I don't transplant them from the small gerination containers and
forget to water them, but maybe I'm not very observant.  I
haven't had time until now to really pay them the attention I should.
thanks for your help.  from a grower in Indiana
=====================

--
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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