Germination

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Author Message   Judith  My Weather Posted on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 - 07:09 am EST :    Matthias wrote " We could perhaps start a new thread for the topic "germination" if there is enough interest." I would definitely be interested in trying to determine why some species seed is sometimes difficult to germinate. In the last few years we have sewn 90 freshly wild collected seed of each H. torquatus, H. croaticus, and H. atrorubens and end up with 10, 6 and 12 plants respectively. The seed was from a reputable collector who gathered, cleaned and shipped the seed asap. It was sewn with the hundreds of thousands of hellebore seeds we sew each year and received the same treatment. I've heard others say they sewed species seed and it germinated like mustard and cress. As Matthias said I've also sewn out counted numbers of x hybridus seed (and hybridus x species)and gotten 100% germination. It is frustrating and expensive when rare seed does not germinate. The responsible wild collection of species seed seems to be the only reputable way we can grow these plants. If this group could share their experiences it would be great Judith - Va., Zone "7"   Jeffnz  Posted on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 - 01:49 pm EST :    Unfortunately despite many recent posts on this topic we seem no closer to finding the key to unlock the mystery of why wild collected species seed routinely has low germination rates. I have experienced the same frustrations with germination of wild seed. Till now I have subsribed to the seed moisture theory as being the essential requirement but a recent report from Mattias on germination rates of freshly sown garden collected species seed does suggest that this may not be as prominent as I had assumed. I suppose the other possibility is soil based, there may be a key nutrient or trace element in the soil where the species originate from that may well be either missing or at a low level in potting media used for seed germination. If there is any basis to this the missing element appears to be almost universally absent. It would be of interest if collectors of wild seed could hydrate seed immediately after collection, maintain the seed in a moist state and then compare germination rates against sed collected from the same site at the same time but without re hydration. This would have to be repeated at a number of sites to avoid the chance of seed from one site giving a biased result. Jeffnz - Wellington, Zone "?"   Jeffnz  Posted on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 - 01:49 pm EST :    Unfortunately despite many recent posts on this topic we seem no closer to finding the key to unlock the mystery of why wild collected species seed routinely has low germination rates. I have experienced the same frustrations with germination of wild seed. Till now I have subsribed to the seed moisture theory as being the essential requirement but a recent report from Mattias on germination rates of freshly sown garden collected species seed does suggest that this may not be as prominent as I had assumed. I suppose the other possibility is soil based, there may be a key nutrient or trace element in the soil where the species originate from that may well be either missing or at a low level in potting media used for seed germination. If there is any basis to this the missing element appears to be almost universally absent. It would be of interest if collectors of wild seed could hydrate seed immediately after collection, maintain the seed in a moist state and then compare germination rates against seed collected from the same site at the same time but without re hydration. This would have to be repeated at a number of sites to avoid the chance of seed from one site giving a biased result. Jeffnz - Wellington, Zone "?"   Matthias  Supporting Member Posted on Friday, March 14, 2008 - 05:19 am EST :    Judith, thanks for your input. You may have missed that other thread I've started on germination. It would not be a good idea to have two threads on the same topic. Would you like to repost there? I will definitely continue when I'm back from the Balkans on Easter Sunday. Leaving today. Matthias - South Germany, Zone "7"   Judith  My Weather Posted on Monday, March 17, 2008 - 06:38 am EST :    Yes, Matthias, I missed that, just saw your note on the "Sunny Staffordshire" post. We wish you a wonderful trip and wish we could be with you, best, Judith Judith - Va., Zone "7"

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