Glaucidium palmatum.

[Giles]

Hello,
I sowed seeds of the lilac and white forms of Glaucidium and have plenty of seedlings. They have been up for many months now, but flatly refuse to produce their first true leaf. I wondered if this was normal/they needed a cold spell first. I was worried they may not over-winter successfully when they remained this small.
Giles

[Leena]

It is normal  . Here G.palmatum grows only the the first seedling leaves (I'm not sure what they are called in English) the first year, and the first true leaf comes only in the second year. The third year comes more leaves and they produce the first flowers in the fourth year.

[Giles]

Thankyou Leena.
I thought they would mingle nicely with the Primula sieboldii.

[Gabriela]

It can also happen Giles, that they will go dormant at some point and to spare of the anxiety I went through, I'll post a picture with the dormant seedlings. I have no patience or space to keep empty pots so I always check on this sort of things. Amazing how strong the root system is, so I potted them in very early spring in individual pots.

If someone wants to speed up the process though, a GA3 treatment - 1000 ppm will result in germination with the true leaf, just like for Podophyllum hexandrum (and no negative effects on the seedlings).