Re: HYB: CULT: germination experiment results

Results of this fall's experiments:

Refrigerated for 2 months (fresh seeds soaked in toilet tank for 2
weeks, seed coats nicked):
    20 pods with an average of 5 seeds each, total 100 seeds:
    6 crosses germinated at least 1 seed (total 34 seeds in these 6
crosses)
    total of 8 seeds germinated =
    8% of total seeds planted, ~30% of seeds from crosses that had any
germination

Refrigerated for 3 months (otherwise same as above):
    41 pods (including the 20 above) with an average of ~7 seeds each,
total 296 seeds
    25 crosses germinated at least 1 seed (total 207 seeds in these 25
crosses)
    total of 60 seeds germinated =
    ~20% of total seeds planted, ~70% of seeds from crosses that had any
germination

So, I figure this means I had 70% germination of the 'easy to germinate'
crosses with the 3 month stratification in the refrigerator, even
without drying seeds before soaking.  Even 20% overall germination is
better than I get with outdoor 'natural' conditions.

Of the 41 crosses,
    3 had two rebloomer parents (2 different crosses)
    5 had one rebloomer parent, one rebloomer grandparent or parent
known to carry rebloom
    18 had one rebloomer parent
    14 had one rebloomer grandparent
    18 did not involve rebloomers, known or suspected rebloom carriers

More on which crosses germinated if anybody is interested.

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8

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