RE: CULT: seed germination

Bill -- there are probably as many ways of doing this as people who grow Siberians, but there are two critical steps. One is to make sure the seeds are well washed to remove germination inhibitors and then to give them a cold (near freezing) spell for several weeks. When things warm up, most will start germinating in just a few days, although there are always laggards and no-shows. My way is to collect the seeds in the fall after the pods ripen, let them dry for a few weeks, then soak then in water for about three weeks (actually in the toilet tank since that has regular changes of water!)in small porous bags. They then go into the main body of the refrigerator for six to eight weeks. When they come out to room temperature, they start germinating within a week or so. If you don't want to mess with this, just pot them up under half an inch of soil, put the pots outside and let nature do the washing and cooling over winter. Probably in late spring you will find a bunch of grass-like seedlings have appeared. Tetraploids are more reluctant germinators on the whole than diploids, and sometimes can take up to 3 months to germinate after the cold spell, but be patient, they probably will get around to it. I hope this helps. Bob Hollingworth


oneofcultivars@aol.com wrote:

>I need advice concerning seed germination techniques for siberian irises.
>
>Any input is appreciated.
>
>Bill Burleson 7a/b
>Old South Iris Society
>


-- 
Bob and Judy Hollingworth



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