Deno seed germination studies, was What's germinating this week.

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:43:30 PST
Norman Deno's seed germination studies have been much perused by the 
rock gardening community for many years. Some of the findings are 
valuable, but many of us have found that the procedures recommended 
there are not absolutely necessary to obtain a good rate of 
germination for some of the species covered.

It is well to know that Deno didn't grow on many of the germinated 
seeds, just counted and discarded them. It would have been difficult 
in any case to transfer some of the species from the paper towels on 
which they were germinated to a growth medium.

One notable exception to the reported findings is that when Deno 
describes a species as having seed that does not remain viable in dry 
storage, it is still possible to obtain some germination from such 
stored seed. The percentage will be low, but if the plants are very 
desirable, it's still worth trying. Even being able to raise one 
Adonis from much-mistreated exchange seed is valuable, and I obtained 
three species of it that way.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA




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