Dicentra uniflora, Dicentra chrysantha

[Jan Jeddeloh]

Yesterday I got seed of the above dicentras from Ron Ratko.  Anybody have any brilliant ideas on how to germinate these choice goodies? I can throw them outside, put them in my greenhouse which is kept barely above freezing or coddle them inside under lights.  Suggestions of potting mix are also welcome.  I'm think of trying some of the Dicentra uniflora in straight pumice. All ideas, no matter how wacky, entertained.

Thank you,

Jan in sunny Portland, Oregon,USA, more or less zone 8

[Gene Mirro]

I haven't grown them, but I just googled D. chrysantha, and it's a strange one.  Looks like it needs heat stratification.  Check out the link below.  And try googling these plants; there is a staggering amount of info out there.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:8Xrards-5o8J:www.werc.usgs.gov/seki/pdfs/ecology3.pdf+dicentra+chrysantha&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=27 

[Maggi Young]

This page from Jim Almond's site is full of info, whether the seed you want to grow is "fancy" or not, great help for getting started with alpine seed
http://freespace.virgin.net/almond.jim/alpseed.htm

[PEAK]

Hi Jan, I haven't tried germinating them. I enclose an article concerning smoke induced germination of some Californian plants. At least the authors of the article seems to have some success! When it comes to smoke treatment of seeds I used to buy these very expensive smoke impregnated paper discs from Kirstenbosch in Cape Town. Then I got the idea to try to soak the seeds in Lapsang Souchong Tea instead, and I can tell you that so far I can see it had exactly the same benefical effect:D
And after an overnight soak you can still drink the tea, (if the seed is not a poisonous one)!

[Gene Mirro]

Peak, you and I have very similar tastes in links, heh heh. 

Why did you try the tea?  Chemical composition?

Jan, if you have enough seeds, I suggest that you try some without heat or smoke treatment.  I just germinated a pot full of Romneya coulteri without smoke, but using GA-3, as per Norman Deno's book. 

[Maggi Young]

Gene, Lapsang Souchong is a very smokey tea which gets its distinctive flavour by being dried over fires, mostly conifer fires, I think. I thought it a most imaginative method to try... wouldn't be a bit surprised if it doesn't work well. It'll be fun then seeing how Per-Åke explains his reasoning for the experiment in his scholarly paper on the subject!!

[PEAK]

Of course you are right there Maggi, it was the smoky smell that made me try. Previous to this I had heard about people using smokey meat marinade for barbeque as a seed soak, I bought some but couldn't really put my beloved seeds in this soup
Actually there are some researchers, in Australia I think, that has found the molecule from smoke that is responsible for triggering germination. I say hat off for these guys, there are some thousand to choose from! There is no magic in this, the molecule is produced upon combustion of cellulose.
If there are any further interest in this a bit scientific tread I'll be glad to post this article
Gene, sorry to have have reposted your link, you know saturday and wine.....
Maggi, although I am in big need of publications, this one wont be written
Jan, I compleatly agree with Gene, sow some without additives and some seeds with GA-3 also, it's like magic for some species!

[Lesley Cox]

Yes please Per-Ake, do post a link for the article you mentioned. I don't know about research in Australia but certainly here in NZ there has been some. Terry Hatch from Pukekohe near Auckland has been able to prove that it is not fire that is the trigger for germination of Australian and South African Protaceae in the wild for instance, but the smoke FROM the fire. He uses a home-made fish smoker to germinate nerines and many other South African bulbs as well, using, I think, chips from manuka or Leptospermum scoparium to generate the smoke.

[Lesley Cox]

Of course if there's enough smokiness in Lapsang Souchong, why not use a nice drop of Scotch from one of the western distilleries? A little Laphroaig would buck up the seed sowing session no end.

[Maggi Young]

Now, Lesley, the idea is to get the seed to germinate, not roll around on the floor singing rude songs!

[PEAK]

Thanks Lesley for letting me go further into this interesting subject! I add the article from Science magazine as a PDF (oh lord, what would I do to get an article into tht mag)! You could use the search engine Google Scholar and search for "Flematti" to get additional reading. Terry have got it all right, it is this compound from smoke dissolved in water that makes the seeds to germinate. So it has to be first a fire and then a rain.
In the article they show that even the extremely low concentration of 1 ppt gives positive germination results!
One source sais that Loch Ness contains 263 billion cubic feet of water, this equals to 7,4*10¹² liters or kilos. To receive this concentration of the compound in the lake you would have to add 7.4 kilos or half a bucket
Of course you would have to stir well, perhaps Nellie could wag her tail a bit

I remember a train journey to Germany (oh boy am I far off-topic now) when we had no water aboard, we used Laphroaig to brush our teeth.
BTW my Leptospermum scoparium died this fall probably because of the constant raining making the soil to wet

[Lesley Cox]

Would you like some seed Per-Ake of the manuka? They're in bloom now but there is masses of seed later. It blows over my garden from the wildish area nearby and comes up in all my seed pots and around the garden.

[PEAK]

I would love to Lesley With more seeds I could also do some tests about the hardiness in Swedish climate. It's said to be hardy in England so... I will send my postal address to you privately, perhaps I can find some Swedish native seed for you. BTW the manuka is sold in Swedish florists shops as "rosenmyrten", rose myrtle.

Cheers

[SueG]

Brilliant idea - to use Lapsang souchong tea - I'm off to buy some at lunchtime! I've just germinated some possible proteas from a bunch of flowers bought from Marks & Spencer at Christmas, might try watering the pot with the tea to see if I can get a few more to germinate! BTW I'm still hoping for the M&S Customer Services to be able to tell me what plants were in the bunch so I know what I've got. Certainly am not going to waste good whisky on the plants - that's for the gardener!
Sue

[David Nicholson]

Brilliant idea - to use Lapsang souchong tea - I'm off to buy some at lunchtime! I've just germinated some possible proteas from a bunch of flowers bought from Marks & Spencer at Christmas, might try watering the pot with the tea to see if I can get a few more to germinate! BTW I'm still hoping for the M&S Customer Services to be able to tell me what plants were in the bunch so I know what I've got. Certainly am not going to waste good whisky on the plants - that's for the gardener!
Sue

Hope Paddy doesn't see this but might be a suitable use for the Irish stuff!