Colchicum

[Arnold]

I'm a relative newcomer to the group.  I've been fascinated by the lack of info on germinating Colchicums. I have a collection of twenty to twenty five different species and hybrids and this year it looks like a large seed crop.  Since they  seem to be available from many different sources, so  someone must be germinating them.

Any new information on successfully germinating seeds of this Genus.  Ian had mentioned in one of the Bulb Logs about soaking them.  Was there a follow up that I missed?

Thanks,

Arnold
New Jersey
USA

[Ian Y]

Arnold
You join a long line of people who have had trouble working out how to germinate Colchicums.
Soaking stored colchicum seed prior to planting will do no harm but it is not the answer either ;the seeds that I soaked last year have not germinated..
Fresh seeds do offer the best results but even they can sometimes be slow and erratic.
I think the lack of infomation says it all - no one knows

[Lesley Cox]

And when someone comes up with some good answers, I - and all here, I think - would be thrilled to hear about it.

I agree that fresh seed is the best hope so Arnold if you get seed on yours, sow it right away as soon as the pods start to open. I have one species for which this works - bought it as C. arenarium but also have 2 as CC. kotschyi and troodii which are identical, so not sure really which it is. However, others, sown within days of harvest have taken at least 4 years before a seedling appears, some, apparently, never.

[Arnold]

Thanks Ian and Lesley, I guess there must be someone out there growing them from seed or are all the nurseries selling offsets and bulb divisions?

Arnold
New Jersey

[Paul T]

Welcome Arnold.

Not much luck here, although have had the odd seedling here and there.  Mostly, the only Colchicum seed I have germinated I think originally came from you via seedexs.  I find they are very very very slow to grow even when they do germinate.

[ArnoldT]

I have an update on germinating Colchicum seeds.  I found an abstract in a journal " Propagation of Ornamental Plants'  The abstract is titled Effects of stratification, temperature and light on seed germination of Colchicum Macrophyllum B.L. Burtt.  I emailed the author and received a copy of the original article.  The seeds that germinated best were kept warm 20+/- 5 C for 8 weeks and incubated at 15 C (76%) or 10 C (67%) in darkness.  The rationale being that the embryo is not fully developed at the time of seed dispersal and a higher temperature for the pretreatment benefits its growth.

Arnold
New Jersey

[Susan Band]

Thanks for that information. I think everyone else tries the opposite.
Susan

[David Shaw]

I put my colchicum and merendera seed in to soak today and will sow them tomorrow (Monday). Here's hoping.

[ArnoldT]

Anyone  who would like a Pdf of the article please contact me at arnold140@verizon.net.

Arnold
New Jersey

[Lars S]

Hi Arnold

I ordered seeds of Colchicum umbrosum from Kristl Walek (Gardens North) this autumn and the advice was to keep the seeds warm initially (2 months or so) and them put them in the fridge for germination. Sounds a bit like your method. I will know the result in a few months 

Lars

[ArnoldT]

Lars:

The method sounds similar.  I'd be interested in hearing about your results.

Arnold
New Jersey

[Sinchets]

Has anyone tried sowing them in pots? I have seedlings of C.kotschyi, persicum and varians from STAR/AGS seed all from pot sowing.

[TheOnionMan]

Hi Arnold, glad to see you made it over here!   

[ArnoldT]

Thanks Mark, so that's what you look like.  I guess I have to post an image of my self now.

Arnold
New Jersey

[TheOnionMan]

Thanks Mark, so that's what you look like.  I guess I have to post an image of my self now.

Arnold
New Jersey

Sure, you can't just be a red "x" (no image), get your "avatar" going in your profile!  You're going to like it here, lots of good information exchange, and the SRGC Forum experience is light years better than other text-based-only forums. Again, welcome!

Still snowing tonight, snowed 7" (17.5 cm) yesterday, another 3" (7.5 cm today), it just keeps on coming.  Yay January in New England!