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Post by atash on Jan 19, 2011 22:49:09 GMT -5
Planted some seeds today, and more going out tomorrow.
Mostly Chilean natives that require it. Temps are chilly but above freezing. I have a feeling we'll have yet another chilly spring but temperatures have been swinging wildly in recent years and we have had some hot Februaries and cold Mays. Used to have a more stable climate than that.
While I was putting out a tray of Mutisias and Alstroemerias into the low tunnel, I noticed the Tea Camellia seeds that I've been keeping out there on the theory that they need to stratify too. I noticed that their seeds now have a pointed bump in the side. I bet that is the root swelling up. I would guess they'll germinate in earnest when I bring them in and put them someplace warm and bright.
I think it might be a good idea to have some seedling Camellias. Their parent, a small-leaved Japanese type, is seriously lacking in vigor, probably from being propagated too many times from cuttings. I'll take the seedlings out to the farm and let them grow out there. Hopefully deer will leave Tea plants alone but if not I'll put them in cages. The tea plants not the deer though it might work better if the deer were caged. ;D
I've got some fruit and nut tree seeds in the same low-tunnel, waiting to break dormancy.
More stuff will be going out for stratification over the coming days. So, some planting is already happening.
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Post by stevil on Jan 20, 2011 4:21:24 GMT -5
I'm a big time stratifier! Perennial edibles for my cold climate generally need stratifying, and are at least not harmed by it. I have two cold frames in which I put the seed containers (recycled) once sown. Here's a picture from last spring. This year I sowed a lot of seed in November and the frame had been covered in deep snow until a few days ago. The windows were on, so I was worried that it was getting too dry in there, so in some mild weather a few days ago I managed to take the snow and window frames off so that the snow/rain could get in.... It's always a big thrill come spring to see all the seedlings appearing... Attachments:
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Post by flowerpower on Jan 20, 2011 7:13:35 GMT -5
Last yr, Bunkie sent me lots of peach and plum seeds. (Thanks again  ) I put some outside in a pot late last winter. It wasn't enough time for the seed to crack. They are still out there, uncovered. I wonder if any will germinate this yr. I'll pot up some more. Would it be better if I put them in the unheated porch? The temp is more variable in there. A few yrs ago, a red squirrel got into my gardening shed. It stored some butternuts in a 6 in pot. I brought out the pot in the spring and 2 of 6 germinated. I thought that was pretty cool. |
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Post by bunkie on Jan 20, 2011 10:41:18 GMT -5
you're very welcome fp! they should germinate. we have tons of volunteer saplings every year from the dropping of fruit in the fall. if they don't germinate, i can send more! ;D
i didn't know stratifying was planting? i thought it was just putting the seeds in the fridge/cold for a length of time.
what you all are talking about sounds more like winter sowing to me? is there a difference?
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Post by mjc on Jan 20, 2011 11:49:53 GMT -5
Winter sowing is a lazy way of stratifying...you don't have to keep track of anything other than what pot you planted a particular seed in...no counting days, no checking up to see if anything is sprouting...
I've got a bunch of stuff out already and more waiting to go out...and another snow storm on the way.
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Post by ottawagardener on Jan 20, 2011 11:53:37 GMT -5
I have some seeds that are stratifying by fall sowing in a marked bed, some that are wintersowing per the plastic mini greenhouse that is often suggested and some in the fridge. Have to toss more outside (in pots) soon.
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Post by atash on Jan 20, 2011 16:09:30 GMT -5
Bunkie, this is a special case in part because my winter temperatures and humidity levels are comparable to parts of Chile. A few of them that either germinate cool or mildly warm after gradually warming cool temps I can just put in my low tunnel, and that's what I did. Stevil, that's what I did with your Hablitzea seeds too. Got great germination, almost every seed. I'm going to start another tray this year.
Some of the others might actually want to be warm, cold, warm, and those I am starting indoors under florescent lights, checking for germination (some might not need to be stratified), then putting outside to finish.
I think stratification is a common requirement for wild plants as opposed to highly domesticated ones that no longer have built-in safeguards against germinating the wrong season. It is also common among domesticated plants that are not usually grown from seed.
There are all sorts of tricky special situations and I am not an expert with stubborn seeds. Orchids are particularly challenging because their seeds contain practically no endosperm; in nature they feed on fungii. It would be fun to grow some Chloraea orchids but I'd need a partner with a lab to flask them up.
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Post by castanea on Jan 20, 2011 16:13:36 GMT -5
you're very welcome fp! they should germinate. we have tons of volunteer saplings every year from the dropping of fruit in the fall. if they don't germinate, i can send more! ;D i didn't know stratifying was planting? i thought it was just putting the seeds in the fridge/cold for a length of time. what you all are talking about sounds more like winter sowing to me? is there a difference? "Stratifying" is used a bit differently by some people. To some people it means primarily sowing the seed. To others it means primarily refrigerating the seed. People can fall into different usage patterns depending upon what they have been working with. Some seeds are almost always planted out for stratifying and some seeds are almost always refrigerated. |
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Post by garnetmoth on Jan 20, 2011 23:55:56 GMT -5
Ooh good to know Stevil and Atash- I got some hablitzia seed from someone on SSE's forum. He said he stratified them but had some issue with damping off. Ive got a boxfan I can hang in my mudroom (uninsulated porch, usually doesnt freeze solid)
Should I start the hablitzia sooner rather than March-ish with my tomatoes and peppers?
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Post by stevil on Jan 21, 2011 4:48:06 GMT -5
Ooh good to know Stevil and Atash- I got some hablitzia seed from someone on SSE's forum. He said he stratified them but had some issue with damping off. Ive got a boxfan I can hang in my mudroom (uninsulated porch, usually doesnt freeze solid) Should I start the hablitzia sooner rather than March-ish with my tomatoes and peppers? I have successfully germinated Hablitzia seed indoors in February without more stratification than it got before harvest and storing in a cold cellar. Stratified outside it is one of the first to germinate in the spring while the air temperature is still hovering around freezing. I think the clue here is that Hablitzia needs coolish temperatures to germinate - it is a woodlander adapted to early spring germination before the leaves appear on the trees. Indoors it germinated in a living room with up to 18-19C in the day and 10C at night. Most people that try to germinate in early summer fail. I thought originally it was because the seed doesn't remain viable long, but I now think it is the temperature. Must do some proper testing... |
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Post by robertb on Jan 21, 2011 7:33:16 GMT -5
I stratify seeds in a cold frame on the allotment. I've been told a fridge speeds up the process, but the wife would hit the roof if I left plant pots in there!
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Post by ottawagardener on Feb 11, 2011 8:44:43 GMT -5
My understanding of the word stratification is just 'supplying cold.' I stratify in the ground, in special devices in the ground, in coldframes and in the fridge. Usually I save the last technique for seeds I don't have too many of because otherwise I fill our fridge with plants. Not everyone in the family appreciates this as much as I do.
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Post by extremegardener on Feb 11, 2011 15:13:17 GMT -5
I stratify seeds in a cold frame on the allotment. I've been told a fridge speeds up the process, but the wife would hit the roof if I left plant pots in there! It can be dangerous in the refrigerator. I am the wife, and I had some very rare seed that I had been trying to get for 10 years or so at the time (eleutherococcus senticosus) stratifying in the fridge - cottage cheese container full of dirt. The stuff takes 2 or 3 years to germinate, and the seed has to be fresh going into stratification, etc, etc. Anyway, 2 years on I had gotten one or two seedlings which died promptly of damping off, but a bunch of other seeds were still in there looking like they would soon do something... and then my husband decided to surprise me by cleaning out the refrigerator... I was thrilled that he cleaned out the refrigerator, BUT....  Actually he felt much worse about it than I did. A few years later I was able to get my hands on some rooted cuttings, and we now have it well established. |
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Post by Alan on Feb 11, 2011 17:09:45 GMT -5
Bunkie, this is a special case in part because my winter temperatures and humidity levels are comparable to parts of Chile. A few of them that either germinate cool or mildly warm after gradually warming cool temps I can just put in my low tunnel, and that's what I did. Stevil, that's what I did with your Hablitzea seeds too. Got great germination, almost every seed. I'm going to start another tray this year. Some of the others might actually want to be warm, cold, warm, and those I am starting indoors under florescent lights, checking for germination (some might not need to be stratified), then putting outside to finish. I think stratification is a common requirement for wild plants as opposed to highly domesticated ones that no longer have built-in safeguards against germinating the wrong season. It is also common among domesticated plants that are not usually grown from seed. There are all sorts of tricky special situations and I am not an expert with stubborn seeds. Orchids are particularly challenging because their seeds contain practically no endosperm; in nature they feed on fungii. It would be fun to grow some Chloraea orchids but I'd need a partner with a lab to flask them up. I know it'd be a bit of a trip for you, but if you ever get a chance make the trip down to Corvallis to meet Alan Kapuler, he is/was big into Orchids and it might be worthwhile for you. I stratify all my stuff in bulk in vermicompost filled pots in an old refridgerator in an unheated spare room. If not for the profusion of rodents in southern indiana outside would be a viable option, but Voles and Red and Gray squirrells make such a thing nigh impossible. I did however take an old chest freezer, paint it, place it on blocks, and put it on the north end of the house to be filled with vermicompost next fall, here I will stratify/winter sow most perrinials for 2012. |
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Post by ottawagardener on Feb 26, 2011 11:59:41 GMT -5
Sounds like a good plan Alan. I have my wintersown stuff double wrapped in thick plastic containers and so far no one has broken into them. Same with my pits - they are in large heavy plastic pots wrapped in mesh. We'll see how they far at the end of the season.
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) I put some outside in a pot late last winter. It wasn't enough time for the seed to crack. They are still out there, uncovered. I wonder if any will germinate this yr. I'll pot up some more. Would it be better if I put them in the unheated porch? The temp is more variable in there.
