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Author Topic: Acantholimon  (Read 2213 times)

Kovacs Pal

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Acantholimon
« on: April 25, 2016, 08:13:56 PM »
Can somebody give me some advice on the sowing Acantholimon seeds (time and circumstances of germination, any pretreatment)? I try it every year but I hardly have any success with them.
Tank you in advance
Pal
Hungary
Zone 6
web: http://sedum.uw.hu/

Rick R.

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Re: Acantholimon
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2016, 01:06:44 AM »
I don't use a pasteurized mix to start seeds.  This is almost never a problem, except with Townsendia seeds (so far) that seem to be more vulnerable to a damping off disease (at least in my experience).  So I tried sowing them on a bed of #1 grit that elevated the seed above the growing media, then covered with about 5mm of #2 grit.  Pot and all is enclosed in a clear plastic bag to hold in moisture, until the first sprouts peak through the grit.  (Then I remove the bag).  This method proved very successful.

With my first try with Acantholimon seeds, it seemed logical to use this method with them, too.  I had Aa. kotchyi, venustum and caryophyllaceum seeds, and they all began sprouting within a week at room temperature, without pretreatment.
Rick Rodich
just west of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
USDA zone 4, annual precipitation ~24in/61cm

Lesley Cox

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Re: Acantholimon
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2016, 04:40:05 AM »
Well done Rick with seedlings of those species. I've tried a few different including from my own. A. glumaceum and never had a single seed germinate so that I have come to the conclusion that there is little if any fertile seed available, at least from cultivated plants. But I've had nothing from wild collected seed either. Pal, I hope you have more success than I have had.
Lesley Cox - near Dunedin, lower east coast, South Island of New Zealand - Zone 9

Lori S.

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Re: Acantholimon
« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2016, 04:07:14 PM »
I don't use a pasteurized mix to start any seeds either, and have no problems with damping-off.  And I also use the standard method Rick described of covering seed flats with a transparent lid to hold in humidity for germination.  (Fertile) Acantholimon seeds of all the species I've attempted will germinate in a few days (often in a day or two) at room temperature with no pre-treatment required, as Rick said. 

I find that wild-collected Acantholimon seeds are generally fertile, or have a reasonable likelihood of mostly being so.  My own garden plants have very low fertility - presumably they're not attractive to the local bees? - only one in a couple dozen will germinate.
Lori
Calgary, Alberta, Canada - Zone 3
-30 C to +30 C (rarely!); elevation ~1130m; annual precipitation ~40 cm

Kovacs Pal

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Re: Acantholimon
« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2016, 09:51:39 PM »
Thank you the answers.
I usually sow a few hundred seeds in every year with more or less success. In the case of the Acantholimons I had only two seedlings in the last five years. I got the seeds from other gardens so they could be not fertile.
Thanks again
Pal
Hungary
Zone 6
web: http://sedum.uw.hu/

Lesley Cox

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Re: Acantholimon
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2016, 10:35:32 PM »
In just a very few days Lori. That's incredible! Obviously I'll have to try again and cover the seeds with something like your transparent lid. All my seeds go outside into the fresh air, never under cover so maybe I'll try that too. Now when are those Czech lists coming out?  :D
Lesley Cox - near Dunedin, lower east coast, South Island of New Zealand - Zone 9

Lori S.

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Re: Acantholimon
« Reply #6 on: April 28, 2016, 03:54:01 AM »
Lesley, if you don't usually cover your seed pots/trays for all the other things you grow from seed successfully, I can't imagine that being the problem with Acantholimon, in particular... ?  I'd guess the problem is with the seeds, not the method. 
Lori
Calgary, Alberta, Canada - Zone 3
-30 C to +30 C (rarely!); elevation ~1130m; annual precipitation ~40 cm

Lori S.

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Re: Acantholimon
« Reply #7 on: April 28, 2016, 04:30:23 AM »
Oh, and I just thought of another interesting tidbit... in a seed-starting chat we had, Bob Nold told me he got good, fast germination too from some very old, wild-collected Acantholimon seed.  This again leads me to wonder if it is not the fertility of the seed (how effective pollination was and how well the embryo is formed or whatever) that counts, as opposed to, say, the age of the seed.

I can't guarantee that what I suspect is true - that is, that Acantholimon in my garden may not be getting properly pollinated (vs. wild-collected) - however I may have had something like this happen with another plant, as follows.  I grew Eremostachys speciosa from wild-collected seed some years ago and had been sending what I thought was viable seed from my 2 garden plants to the NARGS and SRGC seedexes.  Eventually, I got an e-mail from someone who said he'd ordered the seed for 3 years running and never got it to germinate and thought the "seed" had not really been fertilized, from examination of it under a microscope.  I then tried a batch myself and also had zero germination (whereas the wild-collected seed germinated in 8-9 days).  Hence the speculation that the flowers were not being fertilized by the local pollinators... ?   Hmm, must remember to try to pollinate the plants myself this year.   :P
Lori
Calgary, Alberta, Canada - Zone 3
-30 C to +30 C (rarely!); elevation ~1130m; annual precipitation ~40 cm

 


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