Viewing post #324796 by Leftwood

You are viewing a single post made by Leftwood in the thread called Starting lilies from seeds.
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Nov 6, 2012 11:51 AM CST
Name: Rick R.
Minneapolis,MN, USA z4b,Dfb/a
Garden Photography The WITWIT Badge Seed Starter Wild Plant Hunter Region: Minnesota Hybridizer
Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Plant Identifier Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
Brian, last time when you held over some inside and they rotted, that had nothing to do with your decision to grow them inside; that was a result of your inside growing conditions.

If that problem is resolved, then I'd say you could do either way:
1) extract the growing ones and grow them under lights, or
2) allow all to go dormant

My personal preference is #2 because there will be transplant shock anyway if you extract them, and you will have that to contend with in addition to the change in climate (outside to inside).

Lorn's advice is right, although myself, I don't see a reason to block out light. In the end, I doubt there would be much of a discernible difference. But my preference is no light blockage, and to place them under the house roof eave, or better yet, an eave of an unheated building (or your unheated garage). Even if it does get some rain from a blowing storm, for instance, the absence of the board would allow it to dry sufficiently. The protection from the night dew that the eave provides contributes heavily to drying out, too.

My concern with blocking out light before dormancy is the stretching-for-light growth that might occur, and the use of stored reserves for that purpose and general maintenance of the leaf before dormancy sets in. (The idea to force dormancy of amaryllis by putting a green growing plant in the dark closet is bad thing, too.) The withholding of water and natural temperature drop will do a much better job. Even at 40 F, photosynthesis occurs, just far more slowly. Natural dormancy, even if it is hurried along, will actually extract certain nutrients and compounds from the leaf and into the bulb, rather than using them to keep the leaf alive without light. Even if the leaves wither green instead of yellowing first, with light is better in my opinion.

A very important thing to realize with EVERYTHING you put in the fridge:
As temperature sinks, the water holding capacity of he air (and air pockets in the soil) decreases. Relative humidity rises. Suddenly, without the addition of any water, a semi dry soil container becomes moist when cooled down the fridge. So, the idea is to judge the correct moisture for storage when at fridge temperature, not at room temperature. Always use freezer bags when storing plants in the fridge. Cheaper, thinner bags still allow air exchange, can dry out its contents, and allow unwanted gases from senescing fruit/vegetables to enter.
When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers. - Socrates

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