Database germination info

I posted my database, but it got cut off, so am deleting this post. If I get time, I'll try again by breaking it down into increments that will fit into the space we're allowed in these boxes. For now, I just lost quite a chunk of my time. My idea was to post the germination information I've compiled so far in my database and to ask anyone else interested to do the same in this thread, so that by pooling our efforts, we could save ourselves some time hunting down this stuff.

I'll try again in a couple of days.

This message was edited Jan 27, 2007 11:50 PM

What about entering the info in the Plant Files as an entry. Then it's specific to your name and your zone. All someone would have to do is look up the plant they are interested in.

Hi Anita, I've been sharing my research with PlantFiles for a few weeks now, if it's anything different or clarifying. One thing that makes my system so convenient for me is that the germination info of 100 or so species is collected into a single document, which is easier for me to refer to rather than dialing up PlantFiles on a one by one basis more than once.

If anyone compiled their germination data into a single document, I'd love for you to do it here, too, maybe we can save each other some time.

This research is involved, but once done, I will always have it, and the actual process of sowing and germinating goes more quickly and is more foolproof for me. Following are descriptions of the 3 lists I'm keeping, with the 2nd short one provided:

1) master list - alphabetical list of all my seed in which each entry has description, propagation & culture in detail. On any given day when I may germinate a group of seeds that share common germination methods but still have individual idiosyncracies, this is quicker to refer to than dialing up PlantFiles one by one.

2) List by germination code - Once I research as much information about a plant as I can, I just enter the name of it in Tom Clothier's list of sowing methods: http://tomclothier.hort.net/page48.html So, far, my list looks like the following (you can see how like gets automatically grouped with like, and I do adapt and fudge other germination methods to fit in it) (Depending on the seed, I use baggy method alternately on pot or filter paper. I'll have to go through this again and clarify that) (This list only includes the initial phase of germination methods that are complicated - for that I refer to the master list) -

1 2 wks @ 68ºF, slow germ. (14 - 42 days)
Baggy at 70*F:
Abelmoschus manihot Baggy 75*F (50%G, 8-30d) (soak night before, may need nicking)
Allium thunbergii Baggy 70*F (60%G, 6-23days)
Angelonia angustifolia (Summer Snapdragon) (6-19d)
(?Campanula cochlearifolia v alba (NARGS #641 ) (will wintersow a tad of seed)
Campanula persicifolia 'alba' (Peach-Leaved Bellflower) (will wintersow a tad of seed)
Cobaea scandens (Cup & Saucer Vine) attention to drainage, fungicide
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' Baggy, 70*F, 40%G, 11-20d
Primula polyneura

3 3-4 wks @ 68ºF, if no germ. 2-4 wks @ 39ºF, then 68ºF
POT IN BAGGY WITH FLUORESCENT LIGHT (See Deno p55 - 57) good with tiny seeds
Campanula latifolia (Great Bellflower)
Campanula punctata v hondoensis (NARGS #661)
Eremurus robustus (Sow moist at 77-87*F for 4-5 weeks; Move to 35*F in darkness for 11-12 weeks. Slowly raise temperature and light levels)
Haberlea rhodopensis (bagged for up to a year in a pot)
Primula kisoana (1-6 wks @ 70*F, then cycle through 40-70-40-70 3 months each)


4 4-12 wks @ 39ºF, move to 68ºF for germ.

4a "Sow at 4*C [24-39*F] for 3 months, then place at 20*C [68*F] for 3 months." AFTER: "Place in warm water until seeds swell, usually 24-48 hours."

Iris cristata


5 Sow @ 39ºF, germ. erratic, often many months

6 Sow @ 68ºF, germ. erratic, often many months

7 Sow @ 75ºF, rapid germ.

8 2-4 wks @ 68ºF, 4-6 wks @ 39ºF, move to 53ºF for germ.
Gentiana septemfida
Gentiana sino-ornata
Primula sieboldii
Hepatica acutiloba
Heptica maxima

9 2-4 wks @ 68ºF, 4-6 wks @ 21ºF, move to 53ºF for germ.

10 Sow outdoors in the fall for spring germ. Sow at once if short viability seed

DIRECT SOW (fall is best or as soon as seed ripens)
Arisaema (Jack-in-the-pulpit)
Claytonia virginica (Spring Beauty)

WINTERSOW any time from Fall to Solstice to Feb (at least) - perhaps Mar?:

JANUARY z5?
Agastache foeniculum z5a - 9b
Agastache foeniculum 'Golden Jubilee'
Alcea species unknown (rosea? z3-5) dark burgundy, almost chocolate
Antirrhinum majus 'Black Prince'
(?Antirrhinum hispanicum? z5 waiting for NARGS order)
Aquilegia yellow pos z3-5a
Aquilegia white " "
(?Campanula cochlearifolia v alba (NARGS #641 )
Campanula latifolia (Great Bellflower)
Campanula persicifolia 'alba' (Peach-Leaved Bellflower)
(?Campanula punctata v hondoensis (NARGS #661)
Papaver atlanticum 'Flore Plenum'
Ramonda myconi (hopefully after dry-storing seeds at 40*F since harvesting earlier in spring)
Salvia cyanescens (other half #2)

FEBRUARY z7
Agastache aurantiaca z7a - 10b
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' - 6a-9b

FEBRUARY through end of freezing night period - Half-Hardy & Hardy Annuals
Ageratum houstonianum 'Leilani Blue'
Lobularium maritimum (Sweet Alysum)
Asperula orientalis (Blue Annual Woodruff)
Cosmos sulphureus (Klondike Cosmos)

MARCH
Oenothera caespitosa (in pot, transplant when 1st or 2nd true lvs appear)

APRIL
Amaranthus caudatus (Love-Lies-Bleeding)
Coleus 'Palisandra' (Solenostemon scutellarioides) Surface sow @75*F in light
Dahlia - single Thomas Edison


11 2-4 wks @ 68ºF, 4-6 wks @ 39ºF, move to 53ºF for germ. Very slow germ., may take one to two years.

12 Slow germ. - up to a year or more. Store seeds in moist sand in the shade. Check seeds often in the spring, and sow them all as soon as radicals appear.

13 6 wks @ 71ºF, 6-8 wks @ 39ºF, 4-6 wks @ 50ºF, repeat cycle.

14 4-6 days @ 87ºF, 12 wks @ 35ºF in dark. Slowly raise temps. & light levels.

15 Impervious seed coats. Nick, grind or puncture.

16 Pour hot water over seeds, let soak 1-3 days until swelling noticeable

17 Wash & rinse 3 times per day for 7 to 14 days.

List 3 is a schedule with respect to my last frost date. Because there can be so many ways to germinate a seed, or so many phases to the germination process, and life has a habit of lousing up the best laid plans, this is where it gets messy for me and I need the other 2 lists to double check this one and keep myself straight.

I may be in zone 7a, but we've gotten frosts here as late as May 5, so that's the date I use for myself -
http://tomclothier.hort.net/ - scroll down to the bottom and click on Determining weeks before last frost in your area - Again, this is just a fill in the blank, using the master list as a reference

Hope someone else finds this helpful and would like to pool their efforts with mine. It's a work in progress.

I give you a lot of credit. That is excellent info. I too have a database that I keep up to date. I've been updating my website with my findings. Here is the current list http://lakehousecreations.com/wintersown_2007.htm . You can also go to my main wintersowing page for info on last year http://lakehousecreations.com/winter_sowing.htm .

Anita, thank you, that is wonderful. If I had enough seed, I'd try everything to see what would happen. Health issues are keeping us on a shoe-string budget, so Excel isn't available to me right now, but the other data was extremely useful.

Our library internet provider has been on the blink lately, but will keep updating my list when I can and eventually post them all here. Anyone else wrestling with this who might have a tad to offer too?

My notes are in hand & notebook! but I will be using that excell program to update and get it all onto the computer and will add my stuff here, this is an excellent thread!

If anyone wants to email me their lists in a format that I can load onto my website-Word or Excel, I'll gladly do that as a reference. Just make sure to include your zone.