Re: HYB: stressful season - seed germination


>Anybody want to guess whether the 3 weeks before all this heat wave hit
>was enough chilling and rinsing to get them ready to germinate?  They
>were planted December 3 and later.
>
Hi, Linda.
My very first-ever hybridization attempt using pollen from Sharon's
arilbred seedlings yielded 34 seeds, which I planted out in the ground July
9. The first seedling emerged October 13, after our nighttime temps had
dipped only into the 60s. In the last week of November, we found eight
more. By then we'd had exactly three hard freezes overnight and a week and
a half of nighttime lows in the high 30s and low 40s. More significantly,
perhaps, that bed had also begun to receive regular watering from rain. I
didn't water it much in the summer and fall. I suspect that in addition to
a little chilling, these seeds had also been dried by lying in dry ground.
The temp popped up to 75 one day and - boom - out came the seedlings.

December was a similar rollercoaster but mostly mid-30s to mid-50s, and in
late December one more emerged, bringing the total so far to 11.

My guess is that different crosses will behave differently. In my little
experiment, not that much cold has been required to induce germination, but
only 11 of 34 seeds have emerged.

By the way, many thanks to Sharon for making this adventure possible. My
high school-age son has become sufficiently interested that he plans to
make his senior science fair project (in 2000) relate to iris hybridization
by following the results of this cross and by trying one of his own to the
same TB (STOP THE MUSIC) this coming season.

celia
storey@aristotle.net
Little Rock
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