Bulbs > Galanthus

Observations and theory of Galanthus germination

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partisangardener:
I had this thread misplaced and try to do it in a separate thread. I think this matter is important enough.
So this is a new start and I hope you will forgive me me mistakes.

The Germination of Galanthus species a theory.

I had by Accident in 2011 a lot of seeds from Galanthus plicatus. It was 11 of May. While on my trip to Italy I went by a garden with thousand G. plicatus and Leucojum vernum .

I had asked before and collected more than hundred ripe fruits of each. During the two weeks  trip, I kept them in a plastic bag with some moss. Some of the fruits started to rot and so I washed these seeds and opened the remainder. Added new moss and some sand.

When I came home there was a lot to do, and so I added some garden soil and some perlite. Equal parts to the sand. Put some gravel and a gaze in a pot for drainage and gave the mixture seeds and substrate in this pot. I did the same with the leucojum seeds.

I buried these pots in the ground near some orchids which needed regular watering and shade. So they never dried out.
At the end of summer I remembered this seeds and started to fill my drainage routine and some substrate in a Styrofoam box, for each.

When I turned the pots over (about the End of the summer September maybe) I was
in for a surprise.
The complete sets of seeds had already germinated. (Both species)

They had formed a short germination tube and at he end a round little bulb, with several roots each. The roots intertwined very much and some tubes were grown through the gaze. It was a mess. Leucojum did the same.

Germination seemed 100 % I saw none without bulb. Maybe some seeds had rotted, I didn’t count them before.

There were several clumps sticking very much together. These I stretched somewhat without too much damage. Of course the ones grown through the gaze got broken. Afterwards they were covered with two three centimetres of substrate.
These boxes were buried to the rim in my garden. In this warm January they looked afterwards like grass.

Then came frost and snow. The snow disappeared. Still looking very good.

Then heavy frost without snow. -20 for several weeks. After this, he first success was destroyed . All bulbs of both species were slush. Some of the leafs looked still good for a few days.

When I wrote this somewhere in the forum I met disbelief.

partisangardener:
So I tried this year to document it. The set was about 50 seeds of G.plicatus from may own mother plants. And very few of G. elwesii an G. nivalis. I put them in plastic-bags with life Sphagnum. Placed them in my studio in a dark corner under a table.
Temperature at themoment a few centigrades obove zero now, October it was quite warm more than 20.
They did a long time nothing. At the end of October  (I only checked once a week or so) I discovered the first germination with G.plicatus.

The germination tube was as thick (about)as last time but longer. Quite late according to last time. Temperature was inside not that variable as outside (night /day) maybe this was the reason or the acidic Sphagnum. The few  nivalis and elwesii hadn’t moved at all jet.


At the 18 of November the first germination was discovered in the bag with elwesii and nivalis.
At the 14. of December I found the first leaf in some of the older seedlings (G. plicatus) the mother plants in the garden showed some leafs too.
Before I saw only seedlings in late Autumn or winter when I was digging in the garden.
As far as my experiment goes I assume there is no need for a cold period to germinate Galanthus seeds.

They will probably germinate all after they are kept in a moist substrate in a protected place outside. Dry periods will delay the germination and maybe too little temperature variation. This will also produce somewhat lower germination, as is usual for many other species.
I would keep this seeds in a bag with moist substrate for exchange purpose. Like many other spring geophytes.
The germination seems to have a  timer (until germination inhibitors within the seed are metabolised ) which runs faster with natural temperature modus, that a bulb is forming before the first leaf emerges out of it. Delayed hypogeal germination is the term I believe.
This is of course a theory for which I have some observations I assume.
All the pictures I have seen fit into this pattern, but we will see. Next year (I hope)
I will have enough seeds for a better experiment and I will count the seeds exactly at the start.
I believe someone of you will try too.

These pictures are from different seedlings becaus my camera is not fully understood by me and quite old.

Maggi Young:
Axel's previous notes on this : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=10074.msg267775#msg267775

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=280.msg286404#msg286404

partisangardener:
Thank you Maggi  :D

Leena:
 This is very interesting, thank you. :)

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