Re: RE:Canadian Iris Society Link?

Sandy,
         I use the baggie method for some of my Siberian irises each 
year.  It's not necessary to stratify.  Some seed lots perform better than 
others when treated this way.  Some start germinating after about two weeks 
under lights at 70F, some germinate one at a time over an extended period, 
and some take so much longer that it is really not worth doing, if only you 
had known.
           Once the seeds have germinated and have both roots and 1/4" or 
so of leaves, they can be planted into 128 cell flats.  When they outgrow 
those, they are transplanted into disposable plastic pots that are 18 to a 
flat, about 3 1/2".  Once they are in the larger pots, you can keep them at 
a lower temp., 55F is OK.  Seeds that germinated for me in Feb. are now 6" 
or more tall.
         The trick with this method is not to start too many, otherwise 
you'll have no room for all the plants you'll get.  And you don't want the 
plants to get so large that you have to transplant them again before 
planting them outside.  You can plant them when the irises in the garden 
are up four inches or so, or any time after that.  Just be sure to harden 
them off.
         There are two advantages to starting seeds this way.  One is that 
you'll get blooming size plants earlier, perhaps a whole year earlier than 
they would bloom otherwise.  The other is that you get to play around with 
irises in mid winter  when you need something green in your life.
         Ken
At 03:56 AM 3/17/2003 +0000, you wrote:
>Hello again.
>I found a link to the Canadian Iris Society website and have found
>the information I was looking for.
>I did some experimenting this past month with some of the Siberian
>Iris seeds I had in the crisper for a couple years..lol.
>I took them out and let them warm up, placed 10 each on wet paper
>towel, place in baggies,labeled of course. I placed one group of
>seeds under florescent lighting at room temperature and the other I
>put back in the crisper for more stratification.
>Two seeds out of the ten germinated for me.  I planted these two
>seeds into little peat pellets and I now have two small Siberian Iris
>seedlings!!!
>My question is this, how long should I let these little guys grow
>inside the house before I transplant them to my garden?
>
>Thank you for any help given,
>Sandy
>
>
>
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>
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