TOW: Dormancy, Seed and Bulb
Mary Sue Ittner (Tue, 13 Jan 2004 08:31:19 PST)

Hi everyone,

Roy had thought it would be very interesting to have a topic about dormancy
in seeds and bulbs so I asked him to introduce it. He has spent some time
looking through the literature on this and I hope we'll have some
contributions from others too.

Many of us attempt to grow bulbs from seed and understanding what the
requirements are for good germination is really helpful. I'd like to throw
out some questions that came to mind while reading his introduction and see
if any of you can answer them.

In the past people have talked about how some seeds will continue to ripen
if you cut the scape and put it in water. Do we have any idea of which
genera this applies to? I often wonder if I can cut pods off and let them
dry somewhere else or if I need to leave them on the plant until the pod
opens to ensure the seeds will be viable. Anyone care to tell us what they
have observed about this?

Which geophytes do we think have seed coats that need to be nicked or sand
papered?

I assumed that chilling was necessary for species that come from very cold
climates and would regularly get cold temperatures they would have adapted
to. But Roy has found chilling helpful for alstroemeria. Remembering Jane's
discussion of the many habitats she observed for this genus, they wouldn't
all grow where it would be cold. So what do we think is happening in this
situation?

Roy has talked about soaking alstroemeria before you sow it. I always soak
my Cyclamen seed too. Are there other seeds that people have found from
their experience benefit from this?

Have any of you done any experiments using smoke water to help break
dormancy and ensure good germination?

Many years ago Diana Chapman told us about her fire method that had worked
for Veltheimia germination. If I recall what happened was that after her
burning, seeds came up in great numbers all at the same time.

What about the seeds that come up in later years (like Romulea). What has
happened to make this happen?

Finally I am once again struggling with Aristea seed. Rachel sent me some
extra seed to experiment with and I have tried soaking them in smoke water
and sowing them as I usually do. I have about 5 different species. So far I
have one seed up in 10 pots. I kept back some seed to start in the spring.
Does anyone have any suggestion for other things I might try with the rest
of the seed. One of my Aristea pots from last year (0 germination then)
that I have left outside to be rained on has 2 shoots.

Thanks.

Mary Sue