Re: SPEC: I tectorum seeds

In a message dated 11/30/2006 5:57:03 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
colleen@impressiveirises.com.au writes:

I've  been given some i tectorum seeds, freshly harvested. Given that we're
about  to come into summer, any hints on planting and  germinating?


Iris tectorum, as such, needs no cold treatment. I have had very  good luck 
with the following procedure, germinating a very high percentage of  the white 
form, and very many of these. I once did up a whole slew of them as  party 
favors when Clarence came to give a talk to a group at my instigation. 
 
I soak for several days, changing the water each day. Then I surface sow  
onto either friable seedling mix, or vermiculite, and water from the bottom. I  
do not cover the seeds with planting medium, although I press them into place 
to  ensure good contact. I cover with transparent kitchen wrap--I believe you  
folks call it cling film--and place the container in bright indirect light at  
room temperature of about 65 degrees F. I expect germination within a couple 
of  weeks. I typically start mine from seed ripened the previous summer in  
February,dead of winter and about two months from the time most iris seeds  
would be germinating outside., Thrrough potting up at frequent intervals and  
judicious feeding, I will have plants with multiple fans of healthy foliage  by 
the end of the summer. They will bloom the next season, typically the first  
week in May. This is also the system I used for the blue type, several  cones of 
which, in fact, which I no longer grow. What else..ah. if any  seeds develop 
mold at the unbilicus, they are dead and will not germinate  and should be 
tweezered out of the pot.  
 
Now, Dr. Deno experimented with germinating tectorum in both colors.  With 
the seeds he had at hand, he found the blue germinated better in light, and  the 
white apparently required it. He found that germination was much better in  
warm --70 F--conditions. He found that fresh seed did not germinate as well, on 
 average, as seed that had been stored dry for several months, although the 
white  seed tended to deteriorate with long storage at room temperature. His  
results suggest that different clones may have developed their own little ways  
and preferences. If you have time and inclination and rather a lot of seeds 
you  may wish to experiment. There is material in the Archives about tectorum. 
Mark,  however, the advisability of surface sowing. 
 
And then there was the woman in a rundown part of Fredericksburg  VA with 
whom I had a long conversation about irises. She had several interesting  sorts, 
including tectorum, growing lustily in a corner of the garden. I  asked her 
where she obtained it, and she told me someone just gave her some  seeds and 
told her to fling them down where she wanted them to grow, and   that is what she 
did. This is not a challenging species, all told.
 
I will tell you this: Seed is the way to go with this  plant, 
propagation-wise. Yes, you can divide, but, as Mathew says, there  are a lot of sterile fans, 
and, moreover, the vegetative parts sort of run  out of steam. I think the 
setting of copius seed is an indication that that,  rather than vegetative 
increase, is the species' chief mode of reproduction. I  always have a few new ones 
coming along to replace the ones that are getting  ratty. 
   
Hope this helps.
 
Cordially,
 
Anner Whitehead
Richmond VA USA   

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