Xenacrockett said:
Am I understanding this correctly, Michele: you take seeds directly from the pod and plant?
Have you done this in the Summer? How long til sprouting?
Everything I've read thus far indicated seeds needed to be chilled for 3 weeks.
I was reading some info on Petit's site and it said they stuck theirs in a Banrot solution in zip lock bags for 3 weeks before planting.
I think it would be wonderful to be able to directly plant seeds, but I'm wondering if you get more Winter there than I do here.
Yes I take the seeds directly from the pods and plant. The only time I stick them in the fridge is if I don't have time to plant right away. And really the only reason I stick them in the fridge is so I know where they are.
I'm not sure when the putting in the fridge began and it may have been misinterpreted somewhere along the line. From what I have read, and there was a nice article in one of the daylily journals about cold stratification to break dormancy, there has to be a moist environment for this to happen whether it be in a ziplock with peroxide water or a damp coffee filter or moist vermiculite. I am moving so all my journals are packed up so I don't know which one it is in right now. But even with the moist cold stratification some of the seeds still took a month to germinate after being in the fridge for I think it was 6 weeks (can't remember). Honestly, I can get germination of almost all of mine in less than the 6 weeks they would have been in the fridge and even if they were in there for just 3 weeks most of mine would still have germinated. I'm actually transplanting mine at 6 weeks after planting seeds into the ground or pots (wherever I decide to plant them). Sure there will be some that will take a bit longer like the ones that weren't germinated when I transplanted the rest and I emptied the seed trays out and then a week later I go out and notice I have seedlings growing in the pile.
Yes I do this in the summer. I will start planting my seeds next week and try to be done by August 1st. That way I will have a minimum of a 6 week seedling come mid September (around the 15th when we want to have them transplanted from the seed trays).
I'm sure I get more winter here than you. Normal winters are pretty mild here and the plants will slow down in growth but they usually continue to grow all winter (unless we have another one like last winter). Our winters are up and down also, we could have 40° one day and the next be 80°. But by the time our winter gets here the plants are good size already.
Here's a couple of photos Fred had posted before on his seedlings back in 2011. These are the size of his seedlings (most were transplanted at about 6 weeks) at the end of August and these photos are from Dec 23rd so you can see that they get pretty big before we have any real cold to speak of. If I could ever get mine planted at the right times and not get behind mine would be about the same as Fred's since we are about the same climate (he's 2-3 weeks ahead of me in blooms)
