For experts in cold-stratification -- native seeds.
njbiology
9 years ago
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morz8 - Washington Coast
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
How to use Gibberllic Acid-3 on seeds? Too late to cold-stratify?
Comments (7)@Morz8 and Dave (digdirt): Thank you -- this is, of course, very helpful... no freezing them. I think what I will do it sow 50% of each species now, and the other 50%: place in zip lock bags with vermiculite that has been moistened; leave at room temperature for 24 hours and then refrigerate until the first week of May; then sow. For the very few species that require a period of warm-stratification followed by a 3 month period of cold-stratification, I will keep in vermiculite for 2 months at room temp, then put in refrigerator for 3 months, then sow indoors and grow them in a green house for a year. Since I have a very small amount of GA-3.. enough to treat just a few ounces -- whereas I have 3.5 pounds of seed, would it be a bad idea to add this comparatively small and therefore dilute amount to the vermiculite so that there is a trace amount of GA-3 during the process of stratification. i.e. since I have it, since it will be a minimal amount, etc.? Thanks!...See MoreStratification of flower seed methods
Comments (3)novice, it would help to know which seeds too, different plants have different requirements and maybe some of us have tried those you'd like to grow. And if we don't have our own experience, some of us have a stack of propagation books next to our computers that may well describe which process for that particular plant, has a lot to do with their climate of origin, which region they are native to. I use a bit of sterile moist (like a squeezed out sponge) sand or moist vermiculite in a 2x3" zip lock for stratifying in my refrigerator during those months when I'm not getting a 40F average between day and night temps outdoors...just a teaspoon or so of either will do. When the appropriate number of days have passed and I'm ready to sow, I can sow the contents of the bag, sand and all, and not have to extract the seeds. Your freezer is too cold....See MoreGrowing native seedlings plugs & cold-stratification
Comments (3)That could work. I'll share my thought/experience in case it could be of some use to you or anyone else who visits this forum. One option would be to sow seeds in a small raised bed over the winter and then transplant the seedlings as they come up in the spring into the plug trays or directly where you want them to grow. Personally I like to start seeds in a flat or directly in the garden and then move the seedlings to pots as I get more uniform results that way. When starting the seeds in plugs you can end up with a lot of empty cells if the germination rate is low. With flats you can sow hundreds of seeds and only keep the ones you need. I have had a few species where only 1-5% were viable, so if they had been started in cells or pots it would have been a bust. Most grasses can be kept dry in the fridge until ready to plant out in the spring or early summer. For some species germination rates may be a little higher if given cold stratification and some like sweet grass require it. Wrapping them up and putting them in the shed might be problematic if the seeds start germinating early. I start a lot of native seeds indoors in pots for planting out in the spring. I do the stratification on moistened paper towel placed in little clear plastic bags and put those in the crisper. After 60 days or so I check them occasionally for germination. If the seed is really small it can be difficult to get them off the paper towel but it can be done with a spray bottle onto a white plate (so you can see them). This year I had seeds stratifying through late spring and planted some out directly. Some of the species that prefer full sun perform best if sown directly into the garden....See MoreTree seeds NOT needing stratification
Comments (15)The pawpaws would be interesting from a local standpoint because we are just a few miles from PawPaw, WV and they do grow locally here along the rivers. My goal would be to get maybe half a dozen species so students could have some choice in what they wanted to take home (or take multiples) so I will look around for that. Again, there's no major purpose to this other than to give them an interesting side project to work on so I'm flexible in what we end up with. EDIT: Those pawpaw seeds you linked to have been stratified for over a year. Is there an upper limit on how long they will remain viable in a cold environment like that? You always hear about minimum times but not so much about maximum times....See Moremorz8 - Washington Coast
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agojebfarm
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agonjbiology
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agodocmom_gw
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agojebfarm
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agonjbiology
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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