late starting seedlings
Jane McGary via pbs (Tue, 08 Mar 2022 08:55:38 PST)
I agree with Uli about keeping seedlings cool and moist as long as
possible. I don't grow South African bulbs, so everything I have
tolerates at least a little frost. Here seedlings germinate in an
unheated, glass-roofed shed, and are moved to shaded plant stands on a
roofed patio to grow. Usually I would move pots from the stands to the
ground and cover them during the coldest periods (here, temperatures
below about 25 F), but I didn't during the recent few days colder than
that and it appears to have done no harm. Some of the seedlings lost
turgor but revived once the temperature rose. One such pot has about 20
Tulipa regelii seedlings in it, so that was a considerable relief. I
keep a few valuable and marginally hardy plants in an unheated garage
under lights during winter, but they will come outdoors in the next few
weeks. My "greenhouse" is unheated and, with open sides, is essentially
a very large cold frame.
One odd thing about keeping the seedlings growing is that some Narcissus
species fail to go dormant. This seems not to harm their development;
they grow more leaves in the second season and flower in the third. I
don't withhold water from anything that is actively growing.
Seed pots that haven't germinated are allowed to go dry (though in
shade) in summer. I think keeping the ungerminated seeds moist (as they
would not be in nature) might make them rot. I keep most seed pots for 3
years, and then discard the soil among the plunged pots in the bulb
house, resulting in a few mystery plants that eventually can, I hope, be
identified.
Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA
On 3/7/2022 4:37 PM, Uli via pbs wrote:
Depending were you live, it is important to keep the growing
temperature frost free but as cool as possible for as long as possible
into spring. If you germinate your seed in a greenhouse it is a good
idea to move the seedling pots from the greenhouse to a half shaded
sheltered spot in the garden. Always give artificial shade for a few
days after the move. Greenhouses tend to warm up considerably from
March onwards (northern hemisphere). If this is not possible because
of frosty nights it is important to ventilate the greenhouse as
efficiently as possible and to wet the floor during sunny days in
order to increase humidity. Seedling pots must NEVER dry out. Once
growth would be stopped by a dry interval it will not resume and the
resulting bulbs will remain small and weak.
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