Difficult Seeds--PBS TOW

DrR Hamilton robhamilton@trump.net.au
Mon, 25 Nov 2002 21:23:52 PST
Hi   all,

I  dont  have any  special secret for  colchicum  seed  except  to repeat
the  much given  advise -  dont discard your  pots  of  seed too early. I
have had  several  germinations  this  year  in the   second and third
spring from  sowing.  Even  my own  fresh  seed does not  germinate well
first  year , with perhaps a  few  seedlings  appearing followed by good
germination  second   spring.  The  other  observation with colchicum  is
that  seedling often dont  appear at  the  same time  as  mature  leaves
appear- they  are often  much  later  and   could  be  overlooked amongst
other  winter  growing  genera whose seedlings are  beginning to  dry off.
Just  this  week -- the  last  week of our spring I have   C szovitsii
seedlings  appear in  two  separate  pots.

I  am  very  much a  novice with  Gethyllis  seed but having  read  as much
as possible before  trying it  for the  first  time this  year   I  think it
is a  distinct  advantage  to be in the same  hemisphere as the plants
producing the  seed  !!  Gary Buckley  has  an  excellent article on  Suite
101  which  will turn up fairly  easily  with a net  search.

Cheers,

Rob


--

Dr R F Hamilton, 7 Beach Road, Snug 7054
Tasmania, Australia
Temperate Marine Climate (USDA 8/9)
Average Garden Rainfall 26.7 inches per annum
- fairly evenly  spread (range 21-36)
Temperature extremes -2 C  ,  38 C.


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