Germinating now- - photos of seedlings

[Gabriela]

Gabriela - too many seeds about, I simply forgot about them, if you saw our refrigerator crammed with Asian sauces, chutneys and you name it   mkes finding anything close to impossible.  Lots of bad language when we go to it to find something.  Joe, who developed this hybrid, tells me one must repeat the cross every year to get Abkhazi Princess.
john

Your fridge sounds like a dangerous place John! 
Yes, I read the same about Abkhazi, that the cross needs to be repeated. I wonder how long it will be possible to do it.

[Gabriela]

Astragalus seeds are not easy get germinated, i'll soak overnight in sulfuric acid 20% + water. Same treatment gave me previous winter good results after many failures with scarification methods.

Take care with the sulfuric acid Yann!

Speaking of Astragalus and other Fabaceae species which all have a very hard seedcoat that restricts water absorbtion essential for the germination start, here is a very simple method for those who don't have access to sulfuric acid (not really recommended for home usage).

Last year I started to experiment with the hot water treatment on few genera and species. I don't remember but I've probably already post about it, in case I didn't, it works miracles for: Astragalus, Hedysarum, Lupinus, Baptisia, Oxytropis. It didn't work for Senna.
The majority of species in Fabaceae are actually warm germinators, the winter cold is needed just to break down the very hard seedcoats. Hedysarum and Lupinus may even start germinating in water.

Some seeds will swell after 1 treatment as seen in the pictures, for the other seeds you need to repeat (Hedysarum grandiflorum and Astragalus vesicarius). A very easy and safe method to use.



Germination at room temp. after the hot water treatment. I don't have new species to test this year but I would also try it on other Fabaceae.

[johnw]

Gabriela - I suppose anyone with the 2 valid species could repeat the cross.  Joe does the cross every year to sell offspring to raise money for the Abkhazi garden.  It would be disastrous if someone well-intentioned were to repeat the cross with a hybrid and the progeny got out as Abkhazi Princess.  Maggi's onto this peony as you might guess!

johnw

[Yann]

Take care with the sulfuric acid Yann!

Speaking of Astragalus and other Fabaceae species which all have a very hard seedcoat that restricts water absorbtion essential for the germination start, here is a very simple method for those who don't have access to sulfuric acid (not really recommended for home usage).

A friend working into a medical manufacture gave me already mixed acid, in a safety bottle with a double spillways. Off course i use sur-glasses and glovers. Which temperature is your water and how much time do you soak seeds?

[Gabriela]

I used boiling water Yann, you can have tea on the same time
Best if you find some small containers with lids, if not, use aluminum foil to cover them and let the seeds stand in water for a day. Tiny fissures that appear on the seedcoats will make some to swell. For the ones who don't, repeat the procedure. The swollen seeds can be kept in regular water for a few more days or sown.

Astragalus seeds are quite stubborn so you'll have to do it a few times. The important thing is not to let the seeds dry out again after the treatment. If you are busy with something else, keep them in water, it's OK for a few days. That's how it happened that I had Hedysarum starting to germinate.

[Catwheazle]

These are my seedlings.
Just germinating.
I extend the daylight with an LED aquarium lamp and timer by currently 2.5 hours.
... at around 15 ° / 10 ° C in the winter garden. Mainly Gentiana and Pulsatilla ...
As the day length increases, it will be shorter every week :-)

greetings
Bernd

[Catwheazle]

I wonder if anyone besides me is using additional lighting for the seedlings?
As you can see in the picture above, I tried a 12V LED aquarium lamp (cheap from the China discout from the "Bay") for the first time last year. At the moment I am lighting here from around 4 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. As the day length increases, I can then set the timer shorter. I have the impression that the seedlings are getting stronger. The whole thing is in the winter garden at 15 ° C
So far I have tried it with Gentiana, Pulsatilla and Clematis. I'm also wondering whether it might be of any use with Crocus?

Grüße
Bernd

[ArnoldT]

Bernd

I have all my winter growing plants under a four tube LED fixture on during daylight to supplement light levels here in NE USA.  We get many over cast days at this time of year. Here's a Massonia bredasdorpensis after two weeks. Covering is chicken grit which is granite material.

[Catwheazle]

Bernd
... Covering is chicken grit which is granite material.

  never heard

[ArnoldT]

Let me state from the beginning that I have no experience raising  chickens.

I was born and live in a community that frowns on raising chickens in urban areas.


Apparently chickens need an abrasive material in their gut to churn the food and help in digestion.

Chicken grit is that substance.

There's even different size particles used for turkeys.

[Catwheazle]

 

[Catwheazle]

I would never have come up with the idea for such material in my life
But I have become curious and will take a closer look at the material. Thanks for the tip :-)
 

Bernd

[ArnoldT]

Bernd:

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/what-is-grit-and-why-do-chickens-need-it/

[Gabriela]

It was nice to start the new year with new seedlings - Pulsatilla tatewakii, picture taken on Jan. 2.
The seeds were germinating in the garage in December, caught them just in time when preparing to take some pots outdoors for cold stratification.
Strange things happen many times with Pulsatilla (I know that seeds from the same lot, and almost in the same conditions, are not germinating).

[Yann]

Astragalus alopecuroides, seeds collected in Taounza mountains Morocco 06/20, stored at -10°c, cleaned and then soaked 30mn in hydrochloric acid 20% (done in a laboratory not at home), sown 10 days ago and already germinating. In december i sow 42 species of Astragalus using the same method. Crossing fingers