Seed longevity under storage
Hannon (Thu, 28 Nov 2019 09:28:16 PST)
To add to what Paul indicates here about longevity of certain bulb seeds,
I've found that some small, hard seeds like Massonia and Lachenalia will
remain viable a long time under normal household refrigeration. Good
germination rates (30-50% or better) after 10 years are not unusual. Within
five years the rates are higher. Soft-seeded bulbs such as Ornithogalum.
Drimia, etc., tend to lose viability sooner.
In terms of the seed planting window for winter growers, in SoCal there is
a real heat risk before November and a negative day lengthening effect
after January. The months in between are an ideal sowing time for most
species. In a given year the unique climate conditions are probably more
important than exact calendar timing.
Dylan Hannon
*"Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that
our thoughts have any relation to reality at all."* ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2019 12:14:34 -0000
From: "Paul Cumbleton" <cumbleton@yahoo.co.uk>
To: <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>
Subject: Re: [pbs] South African Bulb Order
Message-ID: <001301d5a51c$3b9d0070$b2d70150$@yahoo.co.uk>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I keep seed received from Gordon Summerfield until the fall. Also, I would
not keep it in the fridge but at room temperature - many of the South
African Bulbs require a warm period after they have been shed before they
become fully ripe (imagine in the wild the seed is shed in late Spring or
early Summer and then has the warm summer to go through before the autumn
rains and cooler temperatures arrive that stimulate germination). Once kept
warm for the summer, surplus seed not sown in the autumn can then be stored
in a fridge; old seed of many species maintain at least some viability when
stored - I have for example had some germination from 4 year old Massonia
seed.
Paul Cumbleton
(Chairman of The South African Bulb Group, U.K. - see https://www.sabg.tk/
)
-
_______________________________________________
pbs mailing list
pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…