Re: HYB: speeding things up

Sorry for the confusion (& thanks for sneaking my missing post into the
archives <g>).

I had two batches of fresh harvested (not dried, not soaked) seeds that
were burrito'd.  One batch was in the fridge for 2 months, the other for
3.  When I took the 2 month batch out of the fridge, I planted them in
plastic 4 cell paks & put the paks outdoors.  I did the same for the 3
month batch.

So, at this point, they were all outdoors, inside one of the fence
wire/plant bed fabrid covered 'cold frames', sans water filled cola
bottles.  I will add the bottles later, but figured it is still warm
enough at night, under covers, that I don't have to worry about
seedlings getting frozen yet.

Then we had the discussion here & I read about the importance of keeping
them covered with plastic/glass etc & the possible role of gases
enhancing germination rate.  Dana's good success with a fridge full of
apples & my lack of success (only a few had germinated by then) with the
2 month batch led me to decide to bring all the seed paks (both 2 and 3
month batches) indoors and put them in the little 'greenhouse' boxes
with apples.

The 2 month batch had been outdoors plenty long enough and at perfect
(supposedly) TB seed germination temperatures to germinate, but only a
few had come up at that point.  Plus steadily dropping outdoor soil
temperatures made me wonder if it would be too cold for the 3 month
batch of seeds to germinate at all.

The acrylic boxes, containing yellow delicious apples, are all out on my
southwest facing new last year sun porch where I am regulating
temperatures a little bit by opening or closing the door to the rest of
the house.  Trying to keep it around 50 to 60oF.

I didn't have enough boxes all the same size for all the paks.  One of
the boxes had too low a 'ceiling' to fit in a whole apple, so I sliced
it in several pieces.  That box had the earliest germination.  Possibly
because there was less air space, so gases were more concentrated.
Possibly because sliced apples release more ethylene (anybody know?).
Or possibly just because those particular crosses were ready.  Or maybe
placement of hte box - it may have gotten more sun, been a little warmer
& brighter than the others.

Each cell of each pak has 5 to 10 seeds.  Most crosses are represented
by one cell.  A few crosses where I had tons of seeds are represented by
more cells.  In a couple of crosses, there has been 100% germination.

Yesterday, I used scissors to cut the cell paks apart where some seeds
have germinated so I could move the germinated seeds back outdoors.  The
cut apart cells won't stand up on their own, but fit nicely into an
empty, intact 4 cell pak, which will also allow sorting things (by date,
type of cross, etc) if I want to later.  It will also let me put the
'stubborn' crosses into the smaller acrylic box to see if that makes any
difference.

I'm not sure (haven't taken notes yet) how many of the crosses from 2 vs
3 month burrito have germinated.  Several crosses were treated both ways
so I could compare.  I think I have enough types of crosses represented
to make a legitimate (statistical) comparison, but haven't summarized
anything yet, so am not positive.

I moved them outdoors to harden them off as fast as possible & hopefully
to avoid damping off.  All is well so far.

Outdoor temps are forecast to be possibly in the upper 20s over the
weekend.  I haven't decided whether or not to bring them back indoors.

Patricia Brooks said:
<When you say you moved the pots "indoors", it
                       makes me think they'd been outdoors.  But then
you talk about them
                       being "out of the refrigerator" for x many days.
Could you clarify
                       what the history is of these particular seeds and
where "indoors" you
                       have brought them to germinate, as they are
beginning to do?>

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8

Tennessee Whooping Crane Walkathon:
<http://www.whoopingcranesovertn.org>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
iris-talk/Mallorn archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
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