Peony seed propagation

I bought 10 yellow tree peony seeds. I followed the directions that I found on a website, potted them in soil place inside a sealed plastic baggie and chilled them for 6 months. Then it said to bring them into the light and warmth for another 6 months or until one sees evidence of roots. I got nothing and being impatient I surfed the web to find information regarding treating seeds with Potassium Nitrate (Saltpeater)

I found a fellow in the U.S. who had success in a trial treating difficult to germinate seeds in Glibberic acid and a second trial using Potassium Nitrate. He found that the Potassium Nitrate worked faster than the Glibberic Acid.

So I decided to soak the peony seeds in a solution of 1 teaspoon of potassium nitrate (saltpeater) in 1 litre of water. After 2 days most of them are starting to show evidence of a root starting to sprout. I'm so excited I could jump with joy!!!

Will post a picture when the seedlings come up.
Joydie

Thats great!Let me know how it works,I want to try some seeds.but not sure I can do it.

I planted some Paeonia lutea (?) out in my cold frame 2 years ago, left them, ignored them, forgot about them. Today I dumped the flat that they were in and low and behold, two great root systems with sprouts popping out of the seed cover. Moral - patience is everything.

Seeds have roots now!! I'm potting them up today.

Kathleen,
I won't even tell you what I paid for these rare seeds. They are not the common Paeonia Lutea. They are a "Tree Paeonia mlokosewitschi, Lomakin, 1897" a hybrid first produced in Europe. I'm geting old now...lol...I want to see a flower in a few years. My seeds took 6 months 2 weeks to sprout so I'm going to continue with this method with other rare varieties. I saw some fabulous Chinese Green Tree Paeonia that I must have!!

Nice to hear you had luck with your seeds. By the way, wanna trade a couple of your paeonia lutea for a tree Paeonia in the fall?..Let me know...

Joydie

This message was edited Wednesday, Apr 10th 10:05 AM

Wow, this is a great thread.
Kathleen, did you water your peony seeds
(in the cold frame over the past two years)
occasionally, or just totally ignore them
and let them dry out?
Details, please... :-)
Melissa

Melissa,
Paeonia need 2 cold/warm spells to break the dormancy of the seed coat. I hastened mine with the potassium nitrate (saltpeater) solution soak. In a cold frame you pot the seeds into pots and they grow under glass. It takes 2 years with the cold frame method.

Joydie

My were mostly watered by God, although if I was watering the garden around the cold frame, I usually gave it a shot too. I had given up and literally dumped the flat the seeds were planted in yesterday and there they were. One has shed the seed cover and I haven't seen the other today, but I planted it down so it could use the damp soil to loosen up the seed head. I tend to leave the cold frame open a lot - sometimes to my dismay and regret - so they were pretty much au natuaral.

With all the certifictaes we need to order out of the country,do seeds from "Seeds of Distinction" have to have a aphis thingy?they have peony seeds!

CC,
I checked the website for Seeds of Distinction and they no longer have paeonia seeds available...sign...they have excellent prices too compared to what I paid for mine.

Joydie

Figures ,I only have an old catalog.....