Iris species

[Hans A.]

Wow - Rafa, I wish I would have the same patience you have...

[Miriam]

Bravo Rafa 
I see you are even more organized than me! 
Just continue this way 

[JohnLonsdale]

Hi,

On the subject of forced germination, I changed a few things for 2009 based on the overall results from 2008.  The 2008 exercise generated about 150 species seedlings that made it completely through the first year and were just potted up into 2 1/2" pots.  Below are changes to the procedure I described this time last year

1).  Pre-cutting I did a several day soak in ZeroTol (peroxide) to sterilize and rehydrate the seeds, then added a second soak in 10% bleach for 10 minutes immediately before cutting
2).  Instead of putting damp sterile perlite straight into small Ziplock bags for seed conditioning and germination, I put it into sterilized small plastic containers - we have them here which contain single servings of things like mandarin oranges or peach chunks in juice.  The rationale was to keep the germinating seedlings away from condensation - condensation on the bag sides in contact with the germinating seedlings definitely promotes fungal rot.  I put the seeds on the perlite in the base of the containers then put the containers in the Ziplock bags, then refrigerated them.   Condensation still forms on the bag side above the perlite/seeds but it never contacts the seeds.  Then, when I took the bags out of the fridge after three weeks to initiate embryo elongation I transfered the container in each bag into a new bag, being careful not to disturb the condensation.  This proved very valuable - I didn't have any fungal rot on the germinating seeds because the humidity in the bags was now too low to support it, but the seeds were quite happy.
3). The third change was in the containers used to pot up the germinating seeds.  Last year I used cell trays, this year I used prop trays with perforated bottoms about 24" long, 15" wide and 5" deep.  The idea was to provide a more consistent environment for the seedlings - the cells dried out very quickly and didn't hold much medium.  The other huge advantage is in space saving in the greenhouse.

The three prop trays have been in the greenhouse for 10 days and look great so far - I'll post pictures later showing the containers and the trays of seedlings.

Best,

J.

[BULBISSIME]

Many many thank's rafa and John for all this new elements regarding the forced germination;
still not a bed of roses 

[arillady]

One question: Where were the name tags of the seed containers Rafa?
Were they laid out in identical order on the bench out of the photos?
So many seeds and to cut just the right amount off - uhm I might need a very good magnifying glass.

John: glad that you are experimenting to get the optimum method and then sharing it.

[Paul T]

Pat,

There are stickers just visible on the sides of the plastic containers.  So everything is carefully labelled by the look of it. 

[arillady]

Better look closer next time Paul

[Hans A.]

John thanks a lot for the detailed information. Do you use pure ZeroTol /peroxide for soaking the seeds?

Here an actual picture of an Oncocross (I would not do with rarer species ) sown 2008 - autumn 2008 two seedlings appeared, the last few days 5 more germinated. Now I am waiting for the last one.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Wow... an impressive result Hans !!

[BULBISSIME]

Waow ++ 
I love this young green leaves !!!
And I'm also very interested in peroxide concentration...
Thank's

[Lesley Cox]

Many many thank's rafa and John for all this new elements regarding the forced germination;
still not a bed of roses 

But that's OK Fred. It's irises you're wanting.

[Susan Band]

I tired this for the first time in Jan this year with mixed sucess. The ones which did work did so straight away and I pricked them out into 'root trainers' (these are 12cm tall plugs). There roots quickly outgrew these and were planted outside quite small into a gritty bed. They are now looking great (15cm tall ) although still very green heading into winter, one even has just finished flowering. I am not sure what they all are as my labeling method fell apart during all the moving about (all the ones which germinated were Oncos or arils ) Have more seed ordered so am going to try again but be a bit better organised.
Susan

[arillady]

Paul I just reread my post and realised that I had forgotten the "I" at the beginning of the sentence in my lost post. I was not referring to you - sorry.

Has anyone used smoke water on iris seeds to aid germination? I bought some last year (not sure where I put the packet) and thought I might try some seed this way this year.

[Paul T]

Pat,

I'd read it with the "I" at the front.  I knew the labels were there, so I just figured that was what you meant.  No need to apologise.  Do the same myself all the time. 

[David Nicholson]

I have seed to sow of one or two Juno species and, being the proud possessor of a full set of fingers and thumbs which I would like to retain, I'm loath to embark on embryo slicing etc. How successful am I likely to be with the "sow 'em, cover 'em with grit, and stick 'em outside in an open frame" method or do I need to adopt a more scientific method?