Re: SPEC: I. setosa

From: HIPSource@aol.com

In a message dated 5/29/99 3:05:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
wmoores@watervalley.net writes:

<< 	Anner and Christy have more experience with setosas that I, 
 but I just wanted to report that from the Signa exchange, I got a 
 packet of setosa seeds in January...a variety called 'Blue 
 Repeater.'  They were promptly planted in a pot, and now I have 
 about eight fingerlings  from two to three inches high.  And, we 
 hardly had any winter.  They got only about three or four light 
 freezes.  Maybe the variety has something to do with germination. >>

Could be. There have been reports of some setosas germinating without much 
chill, and in the refrigerator after a few weeks.  I think Rodney Barton 
reported same to the list a year or two ago. Very quick results he had. 
Because of the findings reported by Deno I have always just done mine 
outside, sowing in a warm spell in December for anything home grown and 
immediately when the seeds arrive from SIGNA. I guess they get about two and 
a half months of real winter in the best of circumstances, and I suspect six 
weeks will probably do it for most of them. Whether they like the outsideness 
of it all, or the temperature oscillations--which I consider likely--or the 
effects of precipitation or what, they all germinate like mad, and very 
predictably with the rise in temperatures. Since the plants of things done in 
pots outside tend to be stronger for me than the ones done in the 
refrigerator, I tend to go that route on anything of which I have enough 
seeds. We  must recall that Mother Nature wants to keep things going, but she 
has a lot of seeds and can afford to waste some. Sometimes we only have four 
or five and want to ensure their success by optimizing whatever it is that 
they need.

I would not consider setosas hard irises to germinate at all and I think 
everyone should get some seeds and go to town with them.. They come up like a 
house afire. I've never seen any indication of their having a true double 
dormancy, by which I mean the need for two periods of chill with an 
intervening period of warmth. But the length of time a seed has been dry can 
affect the time it takes to germinate. And while it is good to give a lot of 
iris seeds a little soak to start things off, say for three or four days 
changing the water each day, this is a case where  more is probably not 
better. Soaking too long can hinder their oxygen intake and potentially kill 
them. Oh, my experience has been that you cannot use the "good seeds sink bad 
seeds float" test on setosas. They pretty much all float initially. 

Anner Whitehead
HIPSource@aol.com

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