HYB: seedling survival (data)

2002 was the first year for more than a few pods, plus I wasn't counting
seed production before then.

A quick glance over 2002, 2003, & 2004 seed counts versus mature
seedlings that were still alive last time I checked surprised me.
Typical survival rate for crosses with more than one or two seedlings
that are still alive is about 25%.  Several were closer to 10%, a few
were much higher.  Many were zero.  Most surprising one is IC4:
(IMMORTALITY x CELEBRATION SONG) X TRANS ORANGE.  The pod only produced
9 seeds, my notes say they were all bad (looked immature), 5 seedlings
are still alive and growing.

I think I'd better go over all of my notes and look at this more closely
before daubing season gets here!  Some of the crosses that I've been
thinking were weak, just looking at what's in the garden (i.e., how few
seedlings are alive), may be a lot stronger than I realized.  Typical
germination rate has been somewhere around 30%, so I'm getting much
higher survival rates in a lot of crosses than I thought.

I may have to spray with puree of soft rot, dirt, and manure after all,
to stress these babies more!

What survival rates are the rest of you seeing?
--
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>

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index