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After having carefully recorded all the names in the record book it is time to start sowing the seed. As a rule seed usually falls into three categories with regard to germination requirements. Some need heat, some cold and the others can be sown outside and let the elements do the necessary work. There are others that need more specialist treatment, which I will tell you about later. My methods of dealing with the various requirements are as follows. Those that are not fussy I sow immediately in a mixture of 60% J.I. no 1(A soil based potting compost) and 40% horticultural grit. Top dressing the pot with the same grits and place them in a north facing cold frame. Seed that require a cold spell need to be placed in the fridge for a while and as seed does not usually arrive until early January, in this part of the world that does not allow for enough gold weather before germination time. This is easily achieved by placing the seed between layers of kitchen roll in a closed plastic container, and putting it in the salad compartment of the fridge. To make identification easier I write only the catalogue no of the seed on each piece of kitchen roll, and just in case of accidents I write it twice with a pencil which does not smudge when the paper gets wet. Each lot of seed folds up to about one inch square, so you can accommodate a lot of seed in one small box. It is also a good idea at this point to put a little fungicide in the water that you wet the paper with to avoid moulds forming, as they can be in the fridge for up to twelve weeks. A weekly inspection is usually sufficient, and anything that shows signs of germination is immediately removed to a pot of seed compost as described above, and put into the alpine house. It is only at this stage that the name is recorded from the record book onto a white plastic label and placed in the pot, After three months, which should be sufficient cold treatment for most seed, anything that is left in the fridge is removed and sown as above. Those that require heat are sown as before, placed in a propagator and put under the bench in the alpine house to avoid direct sunlight. |
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