Roosterlorn said:It will be interesting now, to see what differences in charactur these separate surge seedlings might show for clues of. their background.
Interesting indeed! However and as usual, nature is seldom black and white, and there will (and should) be seed germination spilling over from one genetic group (for example, the early germinating group) into another seed germination regime (same example, a later germinating group). The natural world rarely puts all its eggs in one basket. We, as humans, consider this to be a survival mechanism for the species. Such a logical bias holds true most of the time, although there are example that puzzle our brains (like bamboo).
Another good example of not putting all the eggs in one basket would be the odd martagon seed that germinates immediate hypogeal, rather than the normal delayed hypogeal.
Roosterlorn said:Do I grow the few out and risk losing the rest .......
I think you made the best decision, although you wouldn't have lost all the rest. Certainly a good portion, merely because the ideal germination conditions would not present themselves again in such a long duration with perfect conditions. But ungerminated seeds, even if plump, survive freezing temps just fine. Even if not required, more often than not cold temps will push seeds through the germination process at a faster rate when conditions are right, so a shorter duration of optimal conditions is needed anyway.
