Dave. For the summer growers (G. dalenii, ecklonis, oppositiflorus, saundersii, & vinosomaculatus), Ellen has it right. They'll germinate at room temperature (68 F/20 C) although it may take over a month. For the winter growers (G. aquamontanus, cunonius, priorii, & pulcherrimus) listen to Alberto and wait till the fall to sow them. Even if they germinate, they will grow poorly, if at all, in the summer heat. These species germinate slowly at refrigerator temperatures (40 F/4 C). They may germinate more quickly with oscillating temperatures (40-60 F nights/50-70 F days), but I haven't tried this. As for G. cardinalis, I've tried a lot of things. Here's what has worked for me. Many of the seeds will be duds. Expect 50% germination, maybe less. 1. Soak the seeds in water containing some detergent (about 2 drops in a cup of water) until they sink. This may take a week. 2. Soak the seeds in water without detergent for a day or so. 3. Put the seeds on the surface of some sphagnum moss in a closed container and put the container in the refrigerator. Germination will take some time, more than a month. (Instead of sphagnum, you could try perlite, vermiculite, etc. Just don't use potting soil.) 4. As the individual seeds germinate, you can take them out of the refrigerator and pot them up. Eugene Zielinski Rapid City, SD USA > [Original Message] > From: Dave Poole <daverpoole@hotmail.com> > To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> > Date: 5/3/2013 12:48:43 PM > Subject: [pbs] Germinating Gladiolus > > I've recently become more and more fascinated by the South African species and having found a reliable seed source in South Africa, have ordered about 10 sp. for starters. Looking back through the PBS archives, I note that there is mention by Diane Whitehead of the seed needing to be alternately chilled and brought back to normal temperature for about 1 week in order to 'kick start' the seed into growth. There appears to be no subsequent comment about this so I'm not certain as to how important this chilling really is. Can anyone enlighten me? The sp. I will be growing are: G. aquamontanus, cardinalis, cunonius, dalenii, ecklonis, oppositiflorus, priorii, pulcherrimus, saundersii & vinosomaculatus. > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/