HYB: Sprouts from 05 and 06 seed - long!

Seeds stay in burritos until they sprout here.  Occasionally make
an exception when down to the last one or two in a cross.  If I
eventually am planting seedlings from a pot that could have seeds
still in it, the dirt gets 'planted 'at the end of the cross, fenced in by
the mid-section cut out of a 2 liter pop bottle. Often get seedlings
the next spring from them.

Generally don't bring the baggies out to room temperature until
they've chilled at least 5 months.  The ones that seem to be sprouting
in cycles might get room temp every 2-3 months for a week or so.

No hard and fast rules, but I sometimes will soak seeds over again if
they look too intact.  Sometimes just rinse them and roll them against
each other in my hand before they go back in.

Sometime each spring, I go through what I have left & decide whether
I want to try for any more of particular crosses.  After at least a week
at room temp with no new sprouts, they go back in the crisper.  After
another week goes by, I check them again, just in case, then kind of
forget about them for a while (months!).

Last year, I had no new sprouts from second chance 05 seed until about
January of this year, when I got, maybe, 20% from remaining seeds. No
idea why I'm getting them so much earlier this year.  Can't think of
anything I'm doing differently.  Makes sense, though - another 90 days
chilling.

Keep thinking about Betty's impression that she gets more early rebloomers
from second year sprouts.  Only way to find out if there's any real
difference between earliest and last sprouters is to see them all, right?

My second chance 05 seedlings planted out this spring look better than
their siblings a year older.  But then this year's generally look better than
last
year's - none were subjected to the 5 nights of 17 degrees in April.

Constant Companion blooming at 25", with another stalk starting up
Stalk just starting up on Feedback

Mary Lou, near Indianapolis - persistent beyond reason

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index