Byline: John Humphries
EVERY gardener has felt the temptation to pluck a seedpod from a plant in the garden of a stately home hoping to replicate it back at Number 10 Railway Cuttings.
Humphries John
That this rarely happens is probably explained by the fact the seedpod was not sufficiently dry for germination or it got lost in your handbag, because having once opened my garden to the public I found it's women who are most attracted to other people's plants.
TRUTHS
With the summer barely underway, seed is already ripening in the herbaceous borders, shrubberies and among the annuals in the flowerbeds, the ubiquitous wallflower amongst the very first to offer material for propagation.
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While the viability of all seed diminishes with time - and the claim that wheat seed recovered from a tomb in the Valley of the Kings was successfully germinated is believed to be apocryphal - scientists have estimated it takes 13,000 years for the viability of barley to decline to 50% but only 53 years for mahogany seed, given the right conditions.
LED Flexible Strip Crystal Series: Crystal 3528 What is certain is that there is more chance of succeeding with seed if sown as soon as possible after collection.
How many seeds in the collected batch can be expected to germinate can be determined by placing a selection on blotting paper in a saucer containing sufficient water to keep the paper constantly moist.
The saucer is then placed in a fairly warm place until the seeds germinate, when the number that grow and the number that fail LED Light Bulb SP70-5W are counted and the percentage calculated.
This very simple method for measuring viability can save a lot of wasted time waiting for seed that really never had any chance of germinating, possibly because it was not ripe when collected.
Dryness is the key to successful germination from seed, so important that Victorian plant collectors were known to light fires in temperatures of 90 degrees F to dry seed or to wait months for the seed of newly-discovered varieties to ripen sufficiently for collection.
Most ripen during the autumn and should be collected during dry weather when the pods are brown and ripe.
If the pods are damp, spread on newspaper to dry, otherwise rub the pods between your hands over a large shallow tray to release the seed before gently separating it from the rubbish.
While most can be sown straight away in pots or trays in a cold frame, they can also be sealed in brown paper envelopes or bags, not plastic, and stored in a cool dry place for planting later.
Storage is different with berried plants, which normally rely on birds to eat their fruit and so disperse the seeds.
Instead of allowing the seeds to become dry, place damp sand in a flowerpot and mix in the seeds or spread in layers.
The pot is then left outside for the winter, suitably protected from birds and rodents. This technique is stratification and is designed to break the dormancy of the seeds.
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Since most gardeners are dealing with small amounts of seed, the same result can be achieved by placing the seeds in a polythene bag mixed with damp peat or sand, before placing the bag
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