Iris species

[Diane Clement]

Diane,
I found this article helpful http://www.dils.dk/dk-pages/readarticle.php?article_id=11 I didn't follow it exactly but I have  got I. kirkwoodii and I. aucheri alba germinated so far (10 days from sowing) 2 packets have rotted but the others look okay although they haven't done anything. Still hopeful.
Susan

Thanks for this, Susan, very helpful.

[Diane Whitehead]

Last January, I described how I soaked Iris lineolata seeds in bleach
(the same dilution I use for bleaching fabric) for 24 hours,
then in plain water for another 12 hours.  I kept the sown seeds in a
warm room and had germination within a month.

I have four seedlings, now 12 cm high.  I have just repotted them -
they need deep pots as their roots are very long.

I removed the seedcoats from half of the seeds.  Two of those seven
seeds rotted quickly, and the remaining five are still firm and
ungerminated one year later.  They have been outside through warm
and cold weather.

The original messages at:
 Specific Families and Genera  > Iris > Onco from seed
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1236.msg28021#msg28021

[Diane Clement]

How important is it to have fresh seed?  That's the hardest thing to achieve

[BULBISSIME]

Rafa,
how can you manage to cut the embryo without cutting it
If you need to see it when cutting, it means the tip of the embryo will be cutted. 

[Rafa]

In French,
Fred, tu coup la moitié, très peu et tu tire et tu casse, comme si tu debouchonner une bouteille de bière, mais doucement.

[Lesley Cox]

Et en Anglais s'il vous plait? Something about a bottle of beer in there?

[BULBISSIME]

Merci 
Thank you 
Muchas gracias 
Viele danke 
Gracie 
.....

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Et en Anglais s'il vous plait? Something about a bottle of beer in there?

Lesley,
Rafa wrote :
you cut it half way through, you pull, you break... just like opening a bottle of beer, but carefully...

[Susan Band]

Diane,
My seed was bought seed and only just sown in Jan. Some of last years sowing is germinating sporadically now with no treatment. I might pick out the seed which hasn't germinated in a week or two and treat it.
Rafa your method for cutting looks good as well I might try that. I think I had better invest in a magnifying glass on a stand as some of the seed are so tiny.
Susan

[David Nicholson]

This thread makes terrific reading, and as, so far, I'm a "sow 'em, cover 'em with grit, stick 'em outside" type sower I must try some more scientific sowing at some point in the future. I've mastered the art of opening beer bottles though

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you Luit. And Rafa.

[Lesley Cox]

As well as a magnifying glass on a stand, maybe a pair of long nosed tweezers would be useful, to hold the individual seeds.

[Maggi Young]

As well as a magnifying glass on a stand, maybe a pair of long nosed tweezers would be useful, to hold the individual seeds.

Alan Newton has a natty pair of magnifying glasses on a sort of welder's mask type thingy....... perhaps he'll let me know where he got it? Maybe the sort of thing stamp collectors or fly-tyers use?

[Lvandelft]

Thank you Luit. And Rafa.

Credits for Luc in this case Lesley!

[Lesley Cox]

So they are. But I love you both equally, and that's the main thing.