Re: HYB: Germination!

I see some of the same thing with seeds from IMMORTALITY & kids - some crosses germinate fairly easily, others just sit there and do almost nothing. Very frustrating! A few have no germination at all.
Don't give up Paul - it seems to be a matter of finding the right mate plus season/growing conditions when the pod is formed.
The first successful cross here from IMMORTALITY was with CELEBRATION SONG, which gave me 60 or more surviving seedlings from 2 different years. The first year was so successful (more than 40 survivors), I tried the cross again a couple of years later - only got about a dozen survivors. No careful notes, but I <think> about 2/3 of these came up the first year, maybe fewer.
Then I tried a bunch more crosses with IMMORTALITY - have been lucky to get a dozen plants from anything, until this year, when BURST and SACRED HARP have given me a bumper crop, 28 of 35 seeds for the former, 20 of 35 for the latter, 3 months of chilling.
I'm seeing the usual zero germination from some things, germination of seeds that were "obviously" bad (shriveled, gray, tiny), and several crosses that will germinate <one> seed!
Plus there is that aggravating trend for seedlings from delayed germination being stronger than first year germinants here.
If nothing else, cycling pots from cool (40oF) to warm (60+) every day gives seeds that need more chilling a chance to germinate while giving seeds that have already started to germinate a better chance to grow.
Re: 2nd yr germination - one year, after lining out the first batch of germinants from the seed pot, I forgot and left the pot with ungerminated seeds in the field. It got baked dry in hot sun before I remembered to go get it. Good germination the 2nd yr. 

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Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
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