How to treat seeds needing light and cold?

[Paul Cumbleton]

Some seeds require light to germinate and so the recommendation is to sow on the surface and not cover. Does anyone know if they need light for the whole period between sowing and germination? Some of these types also need cold stratification and if the winter is very mild (like ours so far!) I like to put seed in the fridge to achieve this. However, the fridge is dark and I wondered if this will then upset those that require light? - or do they only require light after the period of cold stratification?

Paul

[GordonT]

Without knowing the specific species, it is hard to say. I usually consult Professor Deno's "Seed Germination Theory and Practice", and the two supplemental studies for details. These documents are available free online. Honestly I haven't had to attempt cold stratification with light, but if that was the case, I'd have to build a cold frame here. Maggi kindly referenced the source for Dr Deno's papers here:http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=8368.msg367720#msg367720

I hope this is helpful.

[Paul Cumbleton]

Thanks Gordon, yes this is helpful.
If I'm reading Deno correctly, all his cold treatments were in the dark and only moved into light when moved to 70 f. This seems to answer my question - cold treating them in a dark fridge should be Ok before moving them into the light for germination.

Paul

[GordonT]

Glad it was helpful, Paul. By the way, your Pleione.info site is great! Sad that there is such limited stock available here in Canada (none east of BC, as far as I can tell).  Cheers,  Gordon