Planting Siberian Iris from seed (Need help, Please)

11 years ago

Hello~ I'm hoping someone here can help me. I've spent the past several hours on GW forums and the web, trying to find how I would plant Siberian Iris seed I collected yesterday. I live in zone 5, Michigan... and these Iris haven't been touched for years, it appeared... The pods were loaded with seeds, so have already been through a pretty severe winter chill with below zero temps. Can I plant the seeds into the garden now, or should I pot them up, keep moist and chill for 4-6 weeks.
If anyone can help me, you amazing gardeners here will probably know.
Thank you so much in advance for any help!

Featured Answer

morz8 - Washington Coast

11 years ago

Mertie, most iris including Siberica are warm-cold-cool germinators, giving most complete germination if they are exposed to a moist warm period before the moist chill. 2-4 weeks moist at room temp, 4-6 moist chill, then brought to warmer but still cool (50ishF) for germination and the moist periods must be in that order. (think Fall, winter, late winter to spring as what would occur if the plants had self sown and dropped their seed to the ground, you are mimicking those conditions)

Where your seed has been exposed to a range of temps now, we still can't assume to know how moist they were - and they must be moist to overcome the dormancy.

I'd sow (pots), and watch them. You might be surprised with the initial warm moist period to find some germination, happened to me with iris chrysographes a couple of years ago. It wasn't entirely a welcome surprise, I'd planned to put the pots outside for their chill and not care for them indoors for the remaining of winter ;)

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Comments (6)

Mertie
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you so much, Morz8 for that valuable information. You really are very knowledgeable and explained the process in detail. I SO appreciate that!
You have just confirmed what I suspected... I counted out 50 seeds and put them between moist paper toweling, put inside a plastic bag and am checking them daily. Already in 1 day, they are plumping up. I'm not sure if they need light to germinate, so did some each way. From what I was able to gather elsewhere, they recommended 3/4" depth... which seemed like a lot... and there again, in nature... they must germinate without that depth. Even allowing for freeze, thawing of the soil. I will do as you suggested and sow pots where I can keep a close watch of them. Thank you again!
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mkpearse (MI z6a)
11 years ago
I planted seeds directly in my garden three years ago in the fall, and they all germinated the next spring. I'm in Michigan too, Detroit area. They haven't bloomed yet, but they keep coming back every year. I'm very excited to see them bloom.
Mertie thanked mkpearse (MI z6a)
Mertie
Original Author
11 years ago
morz8 Happy to say 90% of the Siberian iris seeds I planted in pots are now between 6 and 8" tall... very healthy looking. I am so pleased with the result. I think I will just bury the pots for the winter months and see how they fare. Thank you so much for the good advise!!!
morz8 - Washington Coast
11 years ago
Congratulations, I'm glad that worked out for you. I just brought in some iris chrysographes seeds from the garden again this week. Sometime in the next few weeks I'll sow in pots and leave outdoors (in my mild climate). I'm finding deer don't eat iris, so it will be safe to expand my clumps ;)
Mertie thanked morz8 - Washington Coast
Mertie
Original Author
10 years ago
Just wanted to again thank Morz8 and MKPearse for the wonderful advise regarding my Siberian Iris seeds I started in May. I planted all of them out today and they look wonderful! So healthy and firm, and still about 8" tall. I did the seeds in pots, so I could keep a closer eye on them regarding watering and fertilizing.
One of the pots that was very large, and full of seedlings, I completely buried, keeping the soil in the pot at a little below the actual ground level.
"Bout killed myself doing that one! haha
The others, I planted directly into the ground. I also gave the soil a bit of sulfur to bring the acid level up a bit.
I am so excited to see what they look like next year! And I still have seeds left for winter sowing, just in case! Thank you all again! You're the best!