Re: HYB: stratification
- Subject: Re: HYB: stratification
- From: p*@whidbey.net
- Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2001 18:15:44 -0000
Linda,
Perhaps yours and my seed stratification experiments will serve as a
comparative test. You are soaking and potting yours and putting them
into the freezer/refrigerator. I'm putting them in dry (some in
freezer, some in refrigerator) and will then soak and pot in November
and set them in my little homemade coldframe until they sprout, then
move into a similarly sheltered seedbed. (Both made from concrete
blocks, which gives an 8" shelter, in an area that is well-sheltered
itself from our winter winds. Our weather being not too different
(do you have hard freezes?), there should be some info at least
produced despite all the inevitable variables. Hopefully.
Patricia Brooks
Whidbey Island, WA, zone 8
-- In iris-talk@y..., Linda Mann <lmann@v...> wrote:
> Thanks Dennis. Ok, 4 weeks I can manage and still get these guys to
> live thru the winter I think. I also got a helpful email offlist
which
> included the tip that they will start germinating inside the fridge,
> which will be very helpful in figuring out when to take them out.
I am
> in the process of moving them all from their soggy stocking toes
into
> damp potting mix filled 6 pack bedding plant pots in ziplok baggies.
> Not sure they will all fit, but am going with the "beneficial
effect of
> crowding" hypothesis also.
>
> I've got the USDA Yearbook of seeds here somewhere that also has a
ton
> of information on seed germination (inhibitors, mechanical vs chem
> scarification etc etc).
>
> Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
>
> Dennis Hager in Delmarva - that's near New England I think<g>-
wrote:
> The most extensive study of iris seed germination
using
> "garden irises"
> was reported by Randolph and Cox in the
Proceedings of
> the American
> Society for Horticultural Science (V43, p 284-300,
> 1943):
> "Low temperature storage for periods shorter than 2
> weeks had no
> appreciable effect on the final germination
percentage
> but storage at -2
> degrees C, 4 degrees C for periods of 4 to 12
weeks did
> have a
> beneficial effect which was apparently independent
of
> the temperature
> within the range. Wet storage combined with low
> temperatures increased
> the rate of germination as compared with dry
storage,
> but the final
> percentage germination was the same."
> If you're really interested in seed germination,
you
> should read "Seed
> Dormancy and Germination" by JW Bradbeer. It's out
of
> print, but you
> should be able to get it through interlibrary loan.
> It's a concise
> little book (146 pages), but it is crammed full of
> information, NOT
> about irises specifically, but about seeds in
general.
> By the time you
> finish it, you will question most of the
conventional
> wisdom you have
> heard about iris seed germination.
> Another article of interest is "Germination
Preventing
> Mechanisms in
> Iris Seeds" from the Annals of Botany (V58, p 551-
561,
> 1986).
>
> It would be a lot simpler for you if I were to
give you
> a condensed
> version of these works, but I would really like for
> someone else to read
> these works, then we could discuss the conclusions,
> their validity and
> their impact on iris breeding and culture.
>
> R. Dennis Hager, who is "in too deep"
> on Delmarva
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