josieskid said:Valerie, you can teach that young whipper-snapper something

Believe me, I have tried, but it doesn't work.

Although from the posts it may not be necessary - just a word of caution, if you read the research paper, "Germination of Hemerocallis Seeds as Influenced by Seed Development and Temperature Treatments".

The authors make some statements about stratification of daylily seeds that are not necessarily valid for all growing locations and environments. Whether a particular daylily seed is dormant or not dormant and stratification is useful or not required depends not only on the seed but also on the pod parent and the environment while the seed is developing. It may also depend on the environment the pod parent experiences even before it flowers.

Each daylily hybridizer should check what works best for them (germinating daylily seeds after stratification or germinating daylily seeds without stratification) and not change their methods based on statements in the research paper. The researcher's results depend on how and where they grew their daylilies and are not necessarily valid for other locations and growing conditions.

Wise words Maurice, and it applies to all facets of Hemerocallis. I was simply stating what I did and am doing. And provided the research materials read to come by my decision. This year all pods (over 200 seed) were harvested at 35 to 45 days. I'll be glad to share how that works out for me next year. But, I would not tell others what to do. And I always Statify, just keep an eye out for those that don't need it and germinate in the fridge.

"It did come with a warranty!"

Another important qualifier.
Plant development depends on several factors but one of the most important is the temperatures that the plants experience. This applies to daylilies and it applies to the amount of time that seeds need to become mature while developing in the pod.

Arisumi and Griesbach did their research in specific locations e.g. Beltsville and Chicago. When they grew daylilies outside the seeds will have experienced typical temperatures for those locations and those years.

Seeds that develop on daylilies further north should be expected to take longer to mature than seeds that develop on daylilies further south.

Seeds that develop on plants in the shade should be expected to take longer to mature than seeds that develop on plants in the sun.

Seeds that develop on plants that are low on nitrogen should be expected to take longer to mature than seeds that develop on plants that have optimum nitrogen.

And so on...

I only had one cross take so I stopped making them. The bees did a lot better so I am using theirs. thinking of just leaving them here in the fridge until we return in the spring and then plant. Good Idea or Bad?

I think it all has to do with the variety and how they were stored in the fridge. I found that when mine stayed in the fridge that long a lot of them were already sprouted when I pulled them out, but that was OK. Also it seemed the longer they stayed in the fridge the more likely they were to mold. I think the majority of them would be fine, just check on them occasionally.

Sorry it was a double post

Well it would appear that @admmad was right to caution against the premature harvest of pods. My germination results, on my own crosses, so far are very hit and miss, with 73% germination at best. The best results were from the pods on Creative Design, irrespective of the pollen parent. No germination of the Freaky People X Little Raven at all. So, as Maurice said it is highly dependent on many factors. On the bright side, adequate spacing of seedlings in my limited space should be easy this spring!

beenthere said:Well it would appear that @admmad was right to caution against the premature harvest of pods. My germination results, on my own crosses, so far are very hit and miss, with 73% germination at best. The best results were from the pods on Creative Design, irrespective of the pollen parent. No germination of the Freaky People X Little Raven at all. So, as Maurice said it is highly dependent on many factors. On the bright side, adequate spacing of seedlings in my limited space should be easy this spring!

Did you stratify them (damp chilling) before sowing?

Yes @sooby, always.

beenthere said:Yes @sooby, always.

Interesting because I did an experiment this fall with seeds from pods that had not yet cracked open and were still green, I estimate they were about a week from doing so. I was trying to see if there was a difference in seed dormancy between or within individual pods and figured they'd be close enough to mature to be viable. I stratified half on damp kitchen paper in the fridge (I'd have preferred damp vermiculite but that's another story) and started the other half without stratifying. Only one germinated out of the whole lot within a month or so, and I don't even remember which half that was in, so the experiment was a dud.

I did have some germination in all crosses except the one noted above. interestingly, my cross of Black Eagle X Little Raven, set and harvested at exactly the same time as Freaky People, had 12 of 13 seeds germinate and they are growing well. All I know, is I don't know. Maybe Freaky People will never be a Mom, even with pods and viable looking seed. I will try again this summer and not harvest early.

beenthere said: Maybe Freaky People will never be a Mom, even with pods and viable looking seed. I will try again this summer and not harvest early.

@beenthere I hope you get better results but please let us know.

Will do.