All of my crosses with Pufferfish or Dragon Fang seem to grow strong...also Carol Todd crosses. Not growing so well would be my Gary Colby crosses which aren't doing much at all. When repotting though...some of the smallest stunted looking seedlings had the best root systems.

My strongest crosses have been MORT MORSS X DRAGON FANG, MORT MORSS x LARRY'S OBSESSION, ULTIMATE FANTASY X MONET'S GARDEN. Actually all my MONET'S GARDEN crosses are doing great. Worst crosses so far involve DUKE OF GASCONE....and the worst of all of those is DAKAR X DUKE OF GASCONE.
My PUFFER FISH crosses are just starting to germinate after one month using damp towel method. My CAROL TODD crosses are doing very well also.

Linda

Almost forgot ....... IWANNA PIRANHA X BASS GIBSON is a super cross also. I have 30 seeds and 20 have germinated and are growing like crazy. The other 10 are still in my seed bin.

I've only started 10 crosses so far, but my two SHORES OF TIME crosses have germinated the fastest and are the most vigorus growers. Both of those cups have 3 out of the 4 seeds germinated and growing very fast. The crosses are Shores of Time X Rosy Rhino and Mozambique Nights X Shores of Time. The rest of my crosses have one to two plants up out of 4 to 6 seeds planted.

Debra in Nashville

Still early to say best/worst performers but here are my stats to date:

Kansas Kittens x open pollinated (diploid) 15 healthy plants from 15 seeds

Spacecoast Sharptooth x Wisest of Wizards- 7/7 growing & vigorous

Art Gallery Mist x Lavender Dusk-5/5 germinated, 3/5 are growing vigorously, 2/5 have not sprouted green after 14 days

Princess Diana x Spacecoast Sweetness- 7/7 growing & vigorous

Wren Song x Parisian Romance- 10/10 growing & vigorous

Lady Betty Fretz x Tierra Del Feugo- 11/11 seeds germinated w/in 24 hours and are growing vigorously but 2 are albino

Some Sweet Day x Bold Tiger- 1/10 seeds expired, 3/10 seeds still soaking nearly 20 days, 7/10 growing vigorous w/one severely deformed but still vigorous

Scottish Fantasy x April Laquinta- 2/15 seeds germinated & are growing healthy, 2/15 seeds expired, 11/15 back in the fridge after 22 days soaking w/o germination

Tiny Perfection x Spacecoast Sweetness- 6/6 germinated and growing vigorously, 1 severely deformed & no vigor

Lavender Tomorrow x Clarification- 10/15 growing with moderate vigor, 5/15 back in the fridge after 22 days w/o germinating

Some Sweet Day x Spacecoast Starburst-1/11 seeds expired, 7/11 are growing & vigorous, 2/11 germinated but not sprouted green yet, 1/11 still soaking w/o germination

Ava Gardner x Always Afternoon- 3/10 seeds expired, 5/10 growing 4 with vigor, 2/10 still soaking w/o germination

Interesting comment about Duke of Gascone, since my very biggest seedlings are out of that one. I didn't get a huge number of seeds, but the ones I did all sprouted well, and the seedlings have raced ahead of the othes. I'm realy looking forward to my Heartbeat of Heaven X Duke of Gascone.

Thought you all might like to see my siamese twin dl seedling. This is the "deformed but vigorous" seedling out of Some Sweet Day x Bold Tiger. You can see that a new leaf is emerging so we'll see if it turns out normal or if conjoined leaves is an ongoing problem for this plant. In humans I understand that conjoined twins occurs if the embryo splits after 14 days following fertilization. It would be interesting to know the genetics of DL, what determines conjoining during leaf development.

{{gwi:663535}}

I'm also trying an experiment on the seeds that I put back into the fridge after they did not germinate. On about 1/2 the remaining seeds in each of those crosses I performed minor surgery. With a sharp exacto knife I carefully punctured and cut away a sliver of the seed casing being cautious to not cut into the white germ of the seed. I sterilized the knife with alcohol between each seed so as not to spread any contaminating organizms between them. Now it's wait to see if there are any different germination results from this.

Tragar....maybe things will go better for me with Duke of Gascone this year....I sure do hope so. I presently have Duke crosses with Dakar, Cerise Masterpiece, and Roses and Gold. Of those the best growing has been the Roses and Gold Cross. My Larry's Obsession crosses and Mort Morss, Dragon Fang crosses have been killer as far as germination and vigor. As stated before my Monet's Garden and also Blue Hippo, and Carol Todd crosses are doing extremely well. I do hope things go better with 'Duke of Gascone' this year in the garden.

My crosses continue to sprout. About 20-25% of the crosses have no green yet, but it's only been a little over 2 weeks, so I am hoping that over the next week the remaining crosses will sprout.

3 of 10 crosses received Monday and soaked Monday night are already showing germination, and, I suspect that by end of the day there will be one or two more.

Could this info. have more to do with the way the seed was cared for then the parent's of the seed? How many days it was dried and if it was kept damp in frig.? Berry Tea 4 Me had overnight germination from all seed from one seller and much less action from seeds from other seller.

moongardengal, I think it's safe to say that there are a lot of variables that can effect germination rates among crosses. I haven't been able to draw any concrete conclusions about vigor or vitality of certain seed crosses. If you read through the posts above, you saw that I had a lot of difficulty with my Duke of Gascone crosses, while Tragar has had good success. As of now Duke of Gascone crosses are NOT my most problematic....still not good, but I have had a couple others that were more disappointing. Almost everything that has had Linda Sierra in a cross has done poorly for me. The seeds all germinated well and then tanked after they were planted. To date my most vigorous and fast growing seedlings are MORT MORSS X DRAGON FANG, DRAGON FANG X TRICOLORED BITE, JOHNNY CASH X LARRY'S OBSESSION, MORT MORSS X LARRY'S OBSESSION, almost anything crossed with BRIDEY GREESON, CAROL TODD, MONET'S GARDEN. It's funny how I can almost always locate my DRAGON FANG crosses without looking at the writing on the cups. IMHO how the seeds are dried and stored certainly factor in.....as do genetics, germination methods, planting media, room temperature and the list could go on.

Linda

I agree with Linda,
There are just so many factors that affect the seedlings started indoors. Some of my strongest germinating crosses are now victim to gnat damage so have become weaker plants.

I think the real test is how they will do after planting out in the garden where many of the things they fight indoors are not an issue but they have a whole host of new things to face.

Some of my most difficult seeds to germinate are doing so one or two at a time after each refrigeration cycle. Scottish Fantasy x April Laquinta is a cross I've been trying to germinate since Jan 7. Of 15 seeds I have got 5-6 to germinate (I say that because 1 I thought had germinated last week is sitting in the soil with no change in growth). Two of those were lost to gnats...but since I have a couple germinations after each refrigeration I have started speeding that cycle. I'm now doing 24 hrs in the fridge, 2 days in germination closet, etc. My next theory that I'm trying to prove by this is that it's not amount of time in refrigeration but rather the cycle between cold/warm that breaks dormancy.

So- is it the seeds that are difficult/bad or just my methods because I don't understand what really breaks their dormancy? Is it that the seedlings are weak or that I haven't figured out how to control their natural enemies in an artificial environment?

I tend to believe that it's my lack of understanding & skill more than the genetics of the seeds at play here.

And yes, fine tuning the storage process for the seeds is certainly a factor as you noted.

What was the name of the seller on the LA that sold you the quick to germinate seeds BT4M? Shooter? Or something I looked for the post but can't find it.

Scooter30

She's in KY. I've ordered 3 times from her and each time the vast majority of her seeds germinate in I do have one or two straggler seeds from some of her crosses and this last shipment I have 2 crosses that are being slower- but that's the exception with her seeds, certainly not the rule. Several people have e:mailed me that they had similar overnight germination results from her seeds. That's when I asked Mary how she processes her seeds for storage.

I think she has just figured out the ultimate storage process for her climate/humidity. I think you can't assume that someone in a hot humid summer climate can process seeds the same as someone in a cooler climate or a drier climate. There is an optimal condition for the seeds to handle storage and how you get it there depends on your local conditions.