What's germinating this week

Gastil marygastil@yahoo.com
Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:51:02 PST
Dear PBS,

Reading this wealth of information on germination on the PBS list I can now see I knew even less than I supposed!  So far I have tried three methods of germinating bulb seeds: direct in-ground, direct in-pots, and damp-paper. So far I have had at least some success with each. Here are some photos of Moraea polystachya germination starting on damp paper, then planting to a pot.  I gather that M. polystachya is one of the easy ones, that I could have done the direct-to-garden method here.  But I wanted to see it all happen, not hidden underground.  These are from BX 295.


Day 1: float on water
http://flickr.com/photos/gastils_garden/…

Day 2: damp-paper
http://flickr.com/photos/gastils_garden/…

one week at 55-65 F, room light
one week fridge at night, room in day


Day 14: germination
http://flickr.com/photos/gastils_garden/…

Waited a few days to see if more than those first 2 would pop.  


Day 21: close-up showing roots and shoot on a ruler

http://flickr.com/photos/gastils_garden/…


planted in pot
http://flickr.com/photos/gastils_garden/…

Day 24: shoots growing fast

http://flickr.com/photos/gastils_garden/…

An anxious new parent here!  I think the next step is to give them a dilute fertilizer.

So far I have germinated Babianas sp. from BX 286 in-ground and Lycoris sprengeri from BX 297 from 5 days water-float then in a pot.

http://flickr.com/photos/gastils_garden/…
Since then, more Babiana have sprouted, now 11 of the 32 planted early October are up.


I got info from the PBS list archives, from The Bulb Maven blog, and endless googling. I could have waited to start the seeds until I learned more, and have learned a lot more from you all recently.  But it said 'sow in autumn' so I went with the Nike slogan.

- gastil



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