Re: HY:Drying seed
In a message dated 6/7/2003 9:37:18 AM Central Standard Time,
zone1_5@yahoo.com writes:
> once dry my seeds are placed in an
> empty film canister where in they will be frozen if I
> want.
Darm, iris seed have a long shelf life, so I've never felt the need to freeze
them. Several envelopes can be placed in a mason jar and frozen. I've done
this with pollen. Envelopes are easier for me to come by than film canisters
and fit better on the racks. ;-)
<<The seeds and the seedlings that
germinate remain marked pod parent X pollen parent
until each seedling flowers, once this happens the
seedling gets it `s own permanent number and full
description including genealogy .>>
I give a permanent number to each individual cross. Then, I number
individual reselect seedlings. For example: 1502 is a favored cross of mine between two
of my seedlings. The parentage includes Immortality, Feedback, Silverado,
Glistening Icicle, and Titan's Glory. 1502-1 thru 1502-6 are the seedlings that
I've decided to lineout from this cross. There are several more to bloom so
this list may grow.
I choose not to give numbers to each seedling I produce since most will not
survive more than a year! One of the crosses I made this spring, in search of a
good reblooming red on yellow plicata, is Lemon Reflection X Radiant Bliss.
Lemon Reflection, an older winter hardy rebloomer by Dr. Smith, rebloomed well
for me in Alvaton, has good branching, and was the strongest and best formed
reblooming yellow available at the time I started the cross. RB is an amoena
plicata from Earl of Essex and Hot Streak, which reblooms, and may have been
seen by some at the Memphis convention. (not introduced yet) This cross has
produced 7 pods and could easily produce over 350 seedlings, most of which will
hit the compost pile rather early. Also, I don't like cutting strips of v.
blinds necessary to make tags for hundreds of seedlings!
I've iris seed that are over 10 years old, stored in envelopes in a box in my
office that I hope to remember to plant this fall, just so I can see if they
are viable. These have each had 25 seed planted and I saved the surplus. Would
be an interesting experiment.
Betty W. from South-central KY zone 6.
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