Germinating now?

[Darren]

Thanks Simon & Ashley for confirming my guesses about germination calendar. I'm still a bit perplexed about the true leaves appearing. The seedlings have been protected and fed so it could have prompted them to advance a bit. Will see if the other two do the same thing though next month they will be wanting to go dormant so time is running out..

[Lesley Cox]

I would assume that Juno irises in the wild will send up just the germination leaf the first year then a second leaf after a first dormancy, and some do this at home as well but frequently, here, they send a second leaf enfolded within the first, very soon after germination. It certainly happens with the easier species such as bucharica and magnifica but also with cycloglossa, narbuti, kuschakewiczii and others. I wonder is this too, better than wild conditions, or is it some determination to get well on the way while the going's good?

[cohan]

germination is continuing on my himalayan seed:after only a week, i have seedlings on 4 of 6 species of saussurea--interestingly, they germinated at warm under lights, and in the cold on the floor of my back hall (just a tiny bit slower there);nothing yet on soroseris, and only one(warm) waldheimia;
surprisingly, dracocephalum poulsenii also started , at cold (moved to warm under lights now) this was one that i was sure i had read needed cold stratification.....
i've had to pull my haemanthus seedlings out from under the lights to make room for these!

[Lori S.]

Cohan, it's only ones that NEED stratification to break down germination inhibitors whose germination will be delayed; ones that don't need it will germinate no matter what - life is a strong urge!

[cohan]

Cohan, it's only ones that NEED stratification to break down germination inhibitors whose germination will be delayed; ones that don't need it will germinate no matter what - life is a strong urge!

yep!they are determined, and i'm sure my back hall is no colder than the himalayas in early spring! if they waited for completely warm weather, they'd be in for a short season, as with native plants here!
 i was surprised by the sauss, as one of the few references i could find was to attempts to raise them for herbal medicine, in situ in the himalayas if i am remembering right, and now i forget the species, but its one of the cylindricals--medusa, or superba? too lazy to refind the reference now, but they suggested that germination was poor, and used stratification, and in one case removal of the seed coat! so i wasn't expecting much from these; actually i think those two species may be my weakest germinators, or among the non-germinators so far, so perhaps its true for some, but its only been a week..

on the flip side, i do have a lot of seed of woodies,and woodlanders, from ontario etc, that are among those that really do have difficult inhibitors to break down, so i am expecting a long road for some of those!

[TheOnionMan]

I germinate some seed in pots or flats, left outside exposed to the elements to germinate when they're ready (or not), but my favored practice that I started about 5-6 years ago, was sowing seed directly in the soil where I want the plants to grow.  Here's a couple examples.

Heleborus niger seedlings - I scratch in the seed near the mother plant... just noticed these today, still have their black caps on.
Tulipa bifloriformis - seeds scratched in around parent bulbs to help "bulk-up" the clumps.  New seedlings from direct sowing in summer.
Tulipa bifloriformis - 2 year old seedlings in the center, at the top center, new seedlings from direct sowing in summer.

[cohan]

I germinate some seed in pots or flats, left outside exposed to the elements to germinate when they're ready (or not), but my favored practice that I started about 5-6 years ago, was sowing seed directly in the soil where I want the plants to grow.  Here's a couple examples.

Heleborus niger seedlings - I scratch in the seed near the mother plant... just noticed these today, still have their black caps on.
Tulipa bifloriformis - seeds scratched in around parent bulbs to help "bulk-up" the clumps.  New seedlings from direct sowing in summer.
Tulipa bifloriformis - 2 year old seedlings in the center, at the top center, new seedlings from direct sowing in summer.

good work, mark...this is something i plan to do lots of as i get more beds going... seems so much easier at so many stages!

[Susan Band]

Mum always suggests if you are sowing seed directly in the ground do so in a straight line, when they come up you will then know that they are meant to be there and won't weed them out 
Susan

[David Nicholson]

.......a little pot of Calochortus clavatus sown 2 April 2008 that I had quite forgotten about. Nice surprise.

[TheOnionMan]

Mum always suggests if you are sowing seed directly in the ground do so in a straight line, when they come up you will then know that they are meant to be there and won't weed them out 
Susan

When I sow outside, I use two different techniques.  For bulking up purposes, such as with Crocus, I sow directly around the mother clump.  When sowing seed in a new spot, I always put in at least 2 labels front and back of the area sown, or in bigger patches, use 3-4 labels to denote the area sown.  I'm sure with downpours and splashing some seed might jump their bounds, but largely this technique is very successful.

For Epimediums, I sow seed close to the mother plant (most seed will be hybrids) with the intention of gathering up the seedlings, label them as to what parent they came from, then plant those seedlings elsewhere.

[TheOnionMan]

good work, mark...this is something i plan to do lots of as i get more beds going... seems so much easier at so many stages!

When I was working all these years, I could never properly attend to small pots with seedlings in them, invariably the either get too wet, too hot, too dry, or all of the above.  So many years, I would get seedlings of bulbous plants, but rarely would they get past their first year.  Never succeeded with a Tulipa species from seed... never!  Just sow them outside and forget about them, no worries... and watch them happily develop over the years.  It's a good technique for busy life styles.

[Maggi Young]

Just sow them outside and forget about them, no worries... and watch them happily develop over the years.  It's a good technique....

Yes, it is, and so is scattering the rice/bulbils of Frits etc outside..... you'll be surprised what survives and thrives!

[daveyp1970]

.......a little pot of Calochortus clavatus sown 2 April 2008 that I had quite forgotten about. Nice surprise.

David can you take a photo please i've never seen Calochortus seedlings before.

[David Nicholson]

.......a little pot of Calochortus clavatus sown 2 April 2008 that I had quite forgotten about. Nice surprise.

David can you take a photo please I've never seen Calochortus seedlings before.

I will Dave, probably on Monday, weather permitting. They are quite unremarkable though, much like many other bulbous seedlings.

[mark smyth]

I really have to get back to seed sowing again.