Re: HYB: Pods/seeds

Easiest way to handle seeds is let the pods mature and dry till they
split open, harvest the seeds, store at room conditions in
envelopes/cups, plant outdoors in late fall, transplant seedlings when
they are big enough and weather conditions cooperate.

Some cultivars/lines require moist chilling to germinate, but not all.
And some will germinate after less chilling than others.  As Colleen
says, some crosses take two chilling cycles, some seeds continue to
germinate after 3 (or more!) cycles.

Depending on which crosses you are working with, how much chilling they
would get outdoors over the winter (<40oF?), and how much time you have
to fuss with the seeds, outdoor fall planting may work fine for you.

Outdoor fall planting works ok for me, but I'm impatient and want to get
seedlings to blooming size faster, so I chill some in the fridge and
plant some outdoors.  I usually get two or more cycles of chilling by
using the fridge - one in the fridge (3 months), one outdoors (1 month)
after removing germinated seeds, sometimes a third indoors on my
unheated porch if it's a cold winter, by moving seed pots in and out of
the cold.

This spring, there were two rounds of germination outdoors, warm early
spring, then some colder weather, then warm again.

Then again, there is a pot of (DUSKY CHALLENGER x bee) X TEAMWORK out in
the front yard with 2 seedlings that came up last week!  90oF, but in
the shade and well watered...This must be the kind of cross that can be
planted immediately in the summer.
--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
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