HYB: successes & failures

Any of you have tips for reducing transplant shock for very small
seedlings?  By very small, I mean only one leaf blade, or as small as
just a root showing.  I'm surprised at how poor survival has been for
some of the burrito'd crosses this winter.

Betty (I think) asked us to share hybridizing failures as well as
successes.  Biggest disappointment so far this winter have been crosses
with ABOVE THE CLOUDS pollen - they are dropping dead almost as fast as
they germinate.  Pod parents were HARVEST OF MEMORIES and IMMORTALITY,
so I was expecting a bit tougher kids than this.

Freshly transplanted babies from all crosses got pretty stressed on the
unheated sun porch while outdoor temperatures were hitting 12o every
night.  It was below 40 out there.  I think all of the HoM X AtC babies
died, but a few of the IMM X AtC kids are still alive.  And a <lot> of
seedlings from other crosses died (damped off).

Best survival of baby transplants so far: VIOLET MIRACLE X EASY LIVING
and ENGLISH COTTAGE X SHARPSHOOTER.

I wanted to get the ungerminated seeds outdoors for more winter chilling
as quickly as possible, but have decided to let the remaining seedlings
grow a bit more before transplanting.

Good (?) news is that those cold temperatures seem to have triggered
another flush of germination from several crosses.

--
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/>
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online R&I <http://www.irisregister.com>

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