Re: CULT: Starting TBs in Cold Frame

--- In iris-talk@y..., Linda Mann <lmann@i...> wrote:
> < I'm planning to do a dry run this year with some bee pod seeds, as
> I've never tried raising iris from seeds.  Thought I'd try starting 
some
> ASAP and wintering them over in the cold frame.  Anybody have any
> experience/advice doing this in a similar zone?
> Mary Lou, near Indianapolis, zone 5. >
> 
> That's more or less the experiment I was thinking of also, but using
> Reemay as a substitute for the cold frame.  I got no response, so 
you
> and I may be pioneering this approach.  Or else all the hybridizers 
are
> too exhausted from the AIS national and TBIS field trip to comment 
<g>
> 
> Since I had such poor germination the last two years, I figure it 
won't
> hurt to try something new.
>

Make that three trying the cold frame this winter -- also my first 
year at hybridizing.  After reading all iris-talk advice, what I'm 
planning to do is leave the pods on the stalks till they are about to 
split; dry the seeds in little clear plastic cups till they turn 
brown; then toss them with dry milk in each cup to act as dessicator; 
stack them and cover with plastic wrap; put them in the freezer door 
for two weeks; then plant them in regular potting soil in pots and 
winter them over in the cold frame.

I'm in zone 8, where we almost never get hard freezes, just a few 
frosts -- hence the freezer treatment.  We get plenty of rain in 
winter, and I've laid screens on top of my makeshift concrete-brick 
cold frame; so with a good soaking of the pots before they go into 
the cold frame, I'm hoping they will feel at home and sprout.  Will 
let y'all know how they do.  (If we have a dry spell, I will of 
course spray 'em with water, helping out Ma Nature insofar as 
necessary.

I'm so excited to see the results of my crosses!  I'm still making 
several a day, on cvs that just won't quit!  My love affair with 
irises seems to be reciprocal in this clime!

Patricia Brooks
Whidbey Island, WA, zone 8

 
> Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8


 

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