PBS website contact:how to sow daubenya aurea

arnold140@verizon.net arnold140@verizon.net
Sat, 04 Jan 2014 07:37:36 PST
 Paul:

This is something similar to a paper I read on Colchicum seeds.  Theory was that when they were released from the plant there were not fully mature and did so over the next months at a warm temperature.

Arnold
 

On 01/04/14, Paul Cumbleton wrote:

Lee your comments about the need for the seed some species to have a period
of warmth after being shed is correct. Daubenya aurea - and indeed all the
winter growing bulbs from South Africa - fall into this category. They are
shed as summer begins and sit around in the hot sun all summer before
germinating in the autumn when the rains arrive and the temperature falls.
They actually require this period of heat - when shed they are still not
fully ripe and the period of warmth completes the ripening process; this is
called "after-ripening". Storing such seed in the fridge over the summer
will mean they fail to complete their ripening process and are thus very
likely to fail to germinate when sown in autumn. So I always store the seed
of my winter-growing South Africans in a warm, dry place over the summer -
often sitting in the sun on a glasshouse shelf, or at least in a warm room
in the house.

 

Paul Cumbleton

UK Zone 8





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