So when you Bearded set pods?

wishiwere · Post by **wishiwere** » Jul 12, 2007 8:13 pm

What do you do? I mean how long till you pluck it? When it darkens and starts to open?

If you plant the seed, how do you and what will you get? And how long till it produces a plant you can put outside and then how long till it blooms?

Enough ?'s for you?

Never had pods before, b/c I pull off the spent flowers normally. Didn't get to them this year and there are some hug pods to be sure!

Garden_of_Mu · Post by **Garden_of_Mu** » Jul 15, 2007 1:51 pm

When the pod turns brown and starts to split open it is time to pluck it and get your seeds. Getting them to sprout can a bit of work. Iris seeds have a germination inhibiting chemical on them that has to be removed before they will sprout. This is done in the wild by winter rains and frosts. You can replicate this by tossing them in the freezer for three weeks, and then for the rain part alot of folks will put them in a small nylon bag (made from old pantyhose) and hang them in the back of a toilet, using an unbent paperclip for a hanger. This allows them to be washed with fresh water for a few weeks. After that you can put them in a pot of soil, press them just below the surface, set it oudoors and they should sprout when the temps are right.

Transplant the seedlings out to a bed when they are three inches high and they should bloom the next year. They won't look like their parents, and the vast majority will likely not be worth keeping, but you might get one or two that are decent. The professional hybridizers grow thousands of seedlings to get just one they feel is worthy of naming and introducing.

I had 32 seedlings from various siberians bloom this spring. I thought 2 of them might be worth keeping to do more crosses with, but most were not good plants or had completely generic flowers.

petal*pusher · Post by **petal*pusher** » Jul 15, 2007 3:24 pm

Mike....you make this germination process so interesting! I have a few iris out there forming huge pods...I'll really keep an eye on 'em now!

This will be a great experiment with the kids next school year.....they'll ESPECIALLY like the toilet part! Thanks for the info.......Pam

wishiwere · Post by **wishiwere** » Jul 15, 2007 11:44 pm

Hm

.....somehow I can't imagine using the toilet for this, but uhm.

...I'll think about it or an alternative!

Thanks Mike for taking the time. One or two nice ones would be worth the effort to try it!

Thanks again for the help!

akita · Post by **akita** » Jul 16, 2007 12:41 pm

Jane, hanging nylon/pantyhose bags in the clean water tank at the back of your toilet really does make the process easy and the tank is large enough that you can do multiple sets of seeds. Just make sure you label each set of seeds if you're tracking specific crosses. It's much easier than using a container and having to constantly change the water yourself.

wishiwere · Post by **wishiwere** » Jul 16, 2007 9:57 pm

Hm....I suppose it would. Just never considered that the John was a 'clean' place to germinate!

Just have to get past that!

Garden_of_Mu · Post by **Garden_of_Mu** » Aug 01, 2007 9:24 am

I know it sounds weird, but the upper tank should be pretty clean, and they don't really mind if it isn't. They just want the freshwater flowing in and out of the tank a few times a day.

I don't have room to handle them yet, but I couldn't resist saving several bee pods from favorites.