Tropaeolum
Jane McGary (Mon, 16 May 2005 08:41:56 PDT)
David Victor wrote,
I saw your note about germinating Tropaeolum. I grow quite a few and
generally follow Norm Deno's idea on them. He says give them four weeks
at 70F, followed by a period at 40F. They then germinate within a few
weeks, but need to be kept cool until the stem starts to emerge. Then
they can be potted up, but very carefully. They are threadlike and very
brittle at that stage.
In my experience, a lot of seeds from dry temperate South America germinate
best if stored at room temperature (around 70F, that is) over the summer
and then planted in fall and exposed to outdoor temperatures (not freezing
but quite cool, here) for a month or two. Rather than germinating them as
David apparently does, in moist paper towels or some such, I think it's
better to plant them in a seed pot right away, because, as he says, the
seedling stems are quite fragile. They will grow on happily through the
winter, kept in a frost-free location, and go dormant in early summer, one
hopes having formed tubers if adequately nourished with liquid fertilizer.
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA