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Jul 28, 2015 5:54 AM CST
Name: Sue
Ontario, Canada (Zone 4b)
Annuals Native Plants and Wildflowers Keeps Horses Dog Lover Daylilies Region: Canadian
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bluegrassmom said:What causes low germination. I had several seeds from the LA that didn't or had a low percentage of germiantion.


The difficulty with low germination percentages is the time allowed for germination and their pre-starting history to determine if they were not viable or had seed dormancy. For example did 20% germinate within three weeks and then were the rest thrown away? Were they damp chilled first before starting at room temp (in which case if only 20% germinated within three weeks at room temp that would indicate a viability problem). If they were not damp chilled and 20% germinated in three weeks while the rest took three months then it's a seed dormancy issue that can be remedied by damp chilling in the fridge or perhaps soaking in hydrogen peroxide at room temp. Damp is the key for chilling because while dried seeds store better in the fridge, dry chilling does not break seed dormancy.

It's also possible that batches daylily seeds do not have seed dormancy and need no pre-treatment but you can't determine that by looking at them, only by experience. That's one of the reasons why we get so many different recommendations for starting daylily seeds, they don't all have seed dormancy for various reasons but if they do germination will be staggered.

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