Re: HYB:SEEDS

I have enjoyed reading everyone's take on this thread both on and off list.

In my garden, which is in a regular city lot size back yard, space is of
course limited.  I have prepared enough room this year for about 300 seedlings
planted 6 inches apart.

I used to grow all the seeds of a cross in one gallon pots and then transplant
the seedlings into the garden and sometimes would pot up the seedlings for
additional growth before planting out in the iris beds.  If I had acreage, I
would plant all of the seeds I have in 1 gallon pots, because it makes sense
to do that.

Last year, I only had a few dozen seeds and planted them in empty pony-paks
that flowers usually come in from the nursery.  It was very easy to plant the
entire plug into the soil rather than rooting around in a 1 gallon pot to
separate and then transplant the seedlings.  The ones that did not germinate
were held over to this year and I have begun watering them again.

Thus the reason for the 1 seed per pot that I am doing this year.  Yes, 50%
germination out of 100 pots will result in 50 pots that didn't germinate, but
I can easily hold them over until next year without trying to fish out the
seeds from a pot of dirt. No wasting potting soil at all.

My friend Charlie swears that iris seeds germinate better when held a year. He
also feels the plants that germinate the second and later years are better and
stronger than first year germinated seedlings.  He was referring to Spuria
seeds mostly, but feels it will be the same for the other types too.  To test
his notion, I purposely held a spuria pod aside to germinate next year, and I
put it elsewhere than with all my seeds, and now I cannot remember where I put
it...lol. I guess I have a year to find it.

I used to germinate the seeds in pure vermiculite, and they did so very well.
So, it is no surprise to me that the iris seeds would germinate fine in
pearlite too. It seems they will grow in any light medium that gets moisture,
air, and the right temperature. The reason for my use of pearlite in my mix is
for drainage, and to keep it light and loose, as well as to provide air
subsoil and to avoid dampen-off on the surface. A lot of the potting soil
mixes being sold in 2 cubic foot bags at the store are just ground up trees,
rather than peat moss, so it is heavier than I wish.  Pearlite with peat moss
lightens it up. Many of the other potting soils being sold today have a
steeper price because they are enriched with fertilizers (which will have
seeped away by the time the iris seeds germinate months from now).

The 2&3/8" X 5" tall pots I have fit perfectly 32 to a flat.  I kind of
decided that will be the maximum number of seeds per cross that I am going to
plant this year, and if the cross looks promising in the future, I will plant
the rest of the seeds at that time. If the seedlings end up being weak
growers, then I will pitch the rest of the seeds. That way, of the 300
seedlings I wish to plant, I am not stuck with 200 seedlings of just one cross
that could be poor growers, and only 100 of some of the rest of the crosses.
This way, I can sample several crosses in a limited space.

Anyway, that is the plan for now...
Patrick Orr
Phoenix, AZ  Zone 9
USA

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