Meconopsis 2024

[Leena]

Wild collected seeds I bought from Holubeck (horridula, integrifolia, prattii and punicea) December are now germinating, and very well, too. The seed pots were outside all winter, under snow and I took them to cold polytunnel two weeks ago where they are now germinating. Even in M.punicea pot there are couple of seedlings coming up. I now hope I can keep all these alive until flowering.



Outside in the garden M.baileyi ('Glacier Blue')



And M.integrifolia, seeds from a kind forumist couple of years ago.

[ashley]

Very exciting Leena
I've never succeeded with punicea.

[Leena]

I've never succeeded with punicea.

I have tried it twice but never got the seeds to germinate, so I'm very excited to get seedlings this time.
Did you have trouble with them later?

[ashley]

No, I never got any germination so either my conditions were wrong or the seed wasn't viable.
However Margaret or others may know if there are any particular challenges in growing the seedlings on.

[arisaema]

I think it's down to them needing a prolonged freeze to germinate, I never had issues in Norway, but they (the exact same Holubec seeds as Leena) haven't germinated here in Denmark... I'll keep my fingers crossed they'll germinate next spring.

[Margaret Thorne]

Mec punicea seed should be sown as fresh as possible to get good germination.

[ashley]

Mec punicea seed should be sown as fresh as possible to get good germination.

And typical Scottish winters are cold & long enough?

[Leena]

I think it's down to them needing a prolonged freeze to germinate, I never had issues in Norway, but they (the exact same Holubec seeds as Leena) haven't germinated here in Denmark... I'll keep my fingers crossed they'll germinate next spring.

I hope yours germinate next year.
Here seeds really had a long and cold period, about four monts below freezing.
I have had also very good germination from Adonis seeds this year, even older seed pots germinate now, and I think also they need below freezing temperatures for longer times to germinate.

[arisaema]

I hope yours germinate next year.

They often did in Norway if sown too late in winter, so I'm hopeful, even if the climate is a bit milder here - x cookei was sown a month earlier and they have germinated from old seeds, if admittedly not very well. It may be that fresh seeds lack deep dormancy?

[Margaret Thorne]

They often did in Norway if sown too late in winter, so I'm hopeful, even if the climate is a bit milder here - x cookei was sown a month earlier and they have germinated from old seeds, if admittedly not very well. It may be that fresh seeds lack deep dormancy?

M. xcookei has always been described as sterile, so it would be very interesting to see photos of your plants when they flower. Could they have back-crossed with either of the parents?

[arisaema]

M. xcookei has always been described as sterile, so it would be very interesting to see photos of your plants when they flower. Could they have back-crossed with either of the parents?

No back-crossing, it's the only Meconopsis in my mother's garden... They're from a cross I made back in 2009 or so, I sold a bunch of them thinking it was regular punicea before realizing I had succeded. (One full pod of seeds out of some 10 attempt.) Some are loosely clumping, some running, some pink and some purple.

It's not very fertile, I have some 10 seedlings out of maybe 100 decent looking seeds collected 2019-23, although there's a chance more will germinate next year.

Old gallery here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.330369960427523&type=3

...and a couple of divisions flowering in Denmark now:

[Margaret Thorne]

And typical Scottish winters are cold & long enough?

We know more about the requirements of M. punicea than other species because one of our members did an experiment sowing a set number of seeds every month and carefully recording the results; he found that early sowings were more successful than later ones.
As far as other species are concerned, I think all Meconopsis seed needs cold, though storage in the 'fridge before sowing seems to suffice. Once sown, ours then germinates in a couple of months. So, seed sown in February will germinate in April at the same time as seed sown the previous summer and with similar success. For the majority of species, therefore, there doesn't seem to be any advantage in sowing as soon as the seed is ripe (which then has to be looked after for longer to make sure it doesn't dry out). More detailed experimentation might find there are other species like M. punicea (maybe M. quintuplinervia?), but the majority of those more commonly grown don't appear to be.

[Margaret Thorne]

No back-crossing, it's the only Meconopsis in my mother's garden... They're from a cross I made back in 2009 or so, I sold a bunch of them thinking it was regular punicea before realizing I had succeded. (One full pod of seeds out of some 10 attempt.) Some are loosely clumping, some running, some pink and some purple.

It's not very fertile, I have some 10 seedlings out of maybe 100 decent looking seeds collected 2019-23, although there's a chance more will germinate next year.

Thanks, that's really interesting.

[arisaema]

he found that early sowings were more successful than later ones.

This is interesting, as it matches my observations - although the conclusion I've drawn is a need for a longer cold period, not that fresh seeds germinate better... I've had older seeds from Holubec germinate fine if sown around Christmas, and waiting a full year to germinate if sown in February, but still germinating well when they eventually do germinate.

[arisaema]

"Dad" (M. quintuplinervia) opened his first flowers today, so I could get some comparison pics. Not sure if this is 3 or 4 different clones, they're all spreading, I'm guessing the clumping ones may have perished from lack of division over the years.