OK john I cover with soil I give it a try with grit maybe the moisture under the grid is higher Maybe that make a difference Roland 2010/5/22 John T Lonsdale <john@johnlonsdale.net>: > Diane wrote "The species of cyclamen makes a great difference; purpurascens > requires soaking and darkness unless you don't mind how long it takes to > germinate." > > That is the case for Diane, but not here. Treated in exactly the same > manner as all the other cyclamen seeds (no soaking), purpurascens seeds sown > in late August and kept moist in a greenhouse that is allowed to get to > around 26F on the floor give very high germination rates the following late > spring. Seeds are surface sown and covered with about 1cm of grower grade > granite grit - this by no means equates to total darkness. 100s of seeds > sown in August 2009 are germinating right now. This replicates findings > going back at least 10 years. > > All results need to be taken in context and not as black and white. It is > amazing how many folks have the 'definitive' method of doing many gardening > activities - looking back to the very early days of the AGS you can see how > many bizarre unique types of compost were the 'only' ways to get many plants > to grow. The fact that I grow everything here in pots using a single > compost type would have those AGS stalwarts turning in their graves. > > I am very familiar with the Reading method for cyclamen and in my hands it > has given excellent results. However, the methods I described that I use > every year are far less time consuming and work equally well - here. I > don't find any significant differences between species. > > Best, > > J. > > John T Lonsdale PhD > 407 Edgewood Drive, > Exton, Pennsylvania 19341, USA > > Home: 610 594 9232 > Cell: 484 678 9856 > Fax: 315 571 9232 > > Visit "Edgewood" - The Lonsdale Garden at http://www.edgewoodgardens.net/ > > USDA Zone 6b > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > -- R de Boer La Maugardiere 1 F 27260 EPAIGNES FRANCE Tel./Fax 0033-232-576-204 Email: bulborum@gmail.com