Hybridizers: It can be fun to breed your own zinnias - Part 5, 2 by Zen_Man

Zen_Man wrote:
Hi, Lucy,

Have you considered the technique of embryo extraction as a potential method of speeding up your iris seed germination? Zinnias don't require a cold treatment for germination, but embryo extraction does make them germinate essentially instantly from an immature seed. I am attaching a couple of pics documenting the technique for zinnias.

I think it would be essentially the same for iris seeds. You could try the technique on immature seeds, and save all that waiting time waiting for a seed pod to mature. And possible bypass the cold treatment time as well. You might be able to get iris seedlings the same year as you make the cross pollination.

ZM