Erythronium 2019

[johnw]

In June or July I harvested a quantity of E. 'White Beauty' seed; in early December we placed them in a glassine envelope on the kitchen table and intended to sow them in short order.   In December to my horror we discovered the dry seeds so we put them in a ramekin with a few tablesoons of water, again in the kitchen.  Two weeks later we recalled the seeds and were shocked to find roots and leaves in them.  Planted immediately under fluorescents in a plastic bag.

Worth looking into.........Gabriela?

johnw

[Gabriela]

In June or July I harvested a quantity of E. 'White Beauty' seed; in early December we placed them in a glassine envelope on the kitchen table and intended to sow them in short order.   In December to my horror we discovered the dry seeds so we put them in a ramekin with a few tablesoons of water, again in the kitchen.  Two weeks later we recalled the seeds and were shocked to find roots and leaves in them.  Planted immediately under fluorescents in a plastic bag.

Worth looking into.........Gabriela?
johnw

Sounds interesting John. With Erythronium species it may be that, just like with the many Trillium species, some are less recalcitrant to dry storage than others.
More puzzling it is actually the fact that they germinated at warm and root/shoots at once.

It would be worth repeating next year again. I don't have access/experience with this Erythronium (californicum I understand?); I can try it with E. americanum.
In this case, moist kept seeds will start to germinate only after a cold period and only roots first. Most people say it doesn't germinate from dry seeds.

[Helga]

I got a number of Erythronium seeds from the seed exchange yesterday.
At the moment they are in soaked paper towels in little nylon bags.
I intend to sow them tomorrow - is this ok?

And then - I understood from Ian's bulb log that I best sow them into a mixture of
sharp sand: I got that
gravel 6mm: I only have 5-8mm gravel available - should I use Seramis instead?
leaf mould: I don't have any. What I have is the soil I grew my tomatoes in last year: 50% compost + 50% bought tomato soil. Of course I can go and buy garden soil. Which one would be best?

Thanks for your help! 

[Ian Y]

Helga

Yes having soaked them it would be good to sow them soon and you should not worry too much about the sowing medium as long as it has reasonable drainage. You could use your your tomato mix from last year just mix a bit of your sharp sand into it until it feel right, possible one third by volume sand to two thirds of the mix.
I would not worry too much at this stage about nutrients because sowing at this time you are unlikely to get much if any of a germination this spring but they should appear next year. When the seedlings do start to grow you will need to give some liquid form of feeding, no more than half strength,  but not too soon allow the new leaves and roots a month or so to toughen up before starting.

[Helga]

Thanks for your advice, Ian!