I started these plants from a package, years ago now It took me 3 trys to get them to germate. Now I want to save the seeds and don't know how
would like some help.
How long do I leave the pods on the plant?
They are good looking plants. there are 3' tall now
Tilly
This is a pic of one of the pods I took off the plant there are 4 more still on the plant.
Tilly
Nice looking irises Tilly! Such a pretty blue.
Leave the pods on them until they're beginning to turn brown. Sometimes the pods will begin to open up at the top but if you catch them in time (and they usually take quite a while before they begin to spill the seeds out) you'll get lots of seeds from each pod.
I missed one of the pods on my cream pseudocorus two years ago and it had spilled it's seeds onto the ground but even then I was still able to 'harvest' dozens of them...with the added bonus that the seeds had also been leached and frosted during some cold and wet weather. I'd advise just to keep a close eye on them and you'll soon get to know when best to harvest them.
I have pods on several of my irises at the moment so I know that feeling of anticipation, LOL.
I hope this helps a little.
Terri
Hi Tilly,
If you have any knee highs, you could put them over the pods and tie a piece of string around the bottom snug to the stem and you won't have to worry about losing the seeds. I have done this on several of my plants and I just check them every so often. Once they are ready, I just cut the stem off and untie them over a paper plate or a sheet of paper and remove the knee high slowly :o) It really is a great way to collect the seeds.
Connie
Now once I get the seeds, then what do I do????
Do I dry them ??
Freeze them?? etc...
I know nothing about the whats next.
I've grown our local Iris setosa from seed, and it took years for the hair-like plants to look like iris! I winter sowed them. It takes a lot longer to grow them from seed, rather than just dividing them, but it is always good to try something from seed.
Tilly, I sent you a dmail.
Terri
