HYB:Germination:Observations:Temperature and time

I'm not a scientist.  I simply observe in my own garden.   

In the spring, I eagerly await the first sprouts in the iris seed  pots!  
This can happen any time from the third week in February to the  first week of 
April, depending on the season.  Spring temperatures trigger  the beginning of 
the observable parts of outdoor iris seed  germination.    
 
A part of my spring routine is to note when the first sprout appears  
(visible) on each cross!  In earlier years I also counted the seedlings  about once a 
week and noted it in the workbooks.  Several years ago, I  determined that 
the time span from first sprout to last sprout, of a given  cross, was 
approximately a month.   This has held true without  regard to the time that sprouting 
began for that cross.  
 
This one month span seems programmed into the iris seed, and may or may not  
be connected to the bloom cycle.  Early bloomers sprout early and late  
bloomers sprout late?  Anyone kept records??  Anyway, when a month has  elapsed the 
seed shut down.  I suspect this is DNA triggered by time.   Is it day length?  
I have no clue.  It's never been on my HAVE TO KNOW  list!  I just know it 
happens.  
 
This month of time each spring is when I find it crucial to keep the pots  
moist.  
 
My observation?  The iris seed has completed a cycle at this  point.  If left 
outside, more seed may sprout the next spring but will  follow the same 
cycle.  Sometimes a few seeds will sprout in the same  (first) fall.  (Or any 
fall.) These do not require the same cycling as  the average seed.  The program 
(DNA) is different for these seed.  
 
What is different??  What is missing, or present, in their  DNA compared to 
the average iris seed?   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
________________________________________________________
Betty W.  in South-central KY Zone 6 ---If you don't cross them, you can't 
plant them!  
Bridge In Time Iris Garden@website:
Where the seeds are in the pots once  again! 
_www.thegardensite.com/irises/bridgeintime/_ 
(http://www.thegardensite.com/irises/bridgeintime/) 
_Reblooming Iris - Home Page_ (http://www.rebloomingiris.com/)  
_iris-photos archives_ (http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/)  
_iris-talk archives_ (http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/)  
_AIS: American Iris Society website_ (http://www.irises.org/)   

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