foran_object

Germinating Seeds:

A few weeks back I bought some seeds from Gardens North, about 20 minutes drive from Ottawa. Nice folks, and very knowledge as well. I’ve tried several times now to grow trees and plants from seed, mostly with a lack of success. Eddy at Gardens North guided my seed selection to some easier ones. On Sunday, I finally got around to trying to germinate them.

Mixed Rhododendrons:

I filled a big shallow plastic container with about 2” of peat, vermiculite and perlite, which I moistened, and spread the very tiny seeds on top. I put cling wrap over the container, leaving about 2” of air space over top of the mix. The fact that I’m using a ‘soil-less’ mix will hopefully keep fungus and other problems at bay for a while. I situated the container such that it should get a bit of sun through a southwest window. The hot and humid environment should hopefully stimulate germination.

Cercis Canadensis (Eastern Redbud):

This is a very cool tree, but it’s debatable whether or not it will accept the climate in the Ottawa Area. Apparently the seeds came from a tree that has been growing here for some time, so that is very encouraging.

I scarified the seeds slightly using sandpaper, as per Gardens North’s recommendation. I roughed up the long side, just enough to reveal the layer beneath the external coating. I did four seeds, roughing them up in slightly different amounts.

I put the four seeds into small pots, in a mixture of moistened vermiculite, perlite and peat. I put some cling wrap over the top of the pots. I put two outside, and two in the window. The two outside are sitting in a shallow dish of water.

posted by foran  # 10:41 AM