Can I cheat cold stratification

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

So last Semester (towards the end of fall) my highschool teacher who was growing some monarch caterpillars in her yard had brought some in and was raising them gave me a seed pod from her milkweed because I was talking about possibly growing some and having a butterfly garden. I kept them in my book bag for a while and then eventually took them out and put them in a drawer where i had a bag of sunflower seeds in my room. I didn’t know that the seeds needed to be cold stratified so now I’m stuck with some seeds that are refusing to germinate and I only have one that sprouted and doesn’t have it’s true leaves yet. I was wondering that if I kept the seeds very warm (in a wet towel in a container over a heat pad) if I could almost cheat them into growing since they didn't get much of a cold period in my room I was wondering if I could manipulate them into “thinking” that the winter wasn’t very cold and the summers are very hot and they would grow? I live in NC so it’s fairly temperate but I’m just trying to start the seeds this year so I can have plants and more seeds for the next season which I will stratify properly.

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PRO

beesneeds

6 years ago

Extra heating seeds won't fool them into thinking they were chilled. Chilling seeds makes them think they were chilled. Put them in the fridge for a couple to few weeks depending on what kind of milkweed they are.

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Comments (9)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
it would be great.. if we actually knew what the plants are ... the term milkweed is a bit vague ...

your best bet.. might be to go buy some young cheap plants ... when that is an option ...

i dont understand your thought process of heating them.. to speed cold stratification ...

welcome to the forums ...

ken
Dylan Formaggioni . thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
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Dylan Formaggioni .
Original Author
6 years ago
I have put some in a few days ago but I’m trying multiple methods to get them to grow and was wondering if heating would work since I believe common milkweed (the ones I have which forgot to mention) grows in regions with warmer winters and hotter summers and i was thinking I could imitate that until germination.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years ago
google germination time.. not many plants germinate in a few days ...

its brilliant that you are trying many methods...

but you might want to try patience.. lol ...and good luck with that.. it rarely works for me .. lol

ken

btw: being perennial... you may not get flowers the first year ... which would be another reason to buy some second year plants ...
Dylan Formaggioni . thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
Dylan Formaggioni .
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I started out with around 100+ seeds and have left 60 give or take to leave in the freezer for about a month. Last year we bought two younger plants which we just left outside in pots which are now starting to sprout new growth (5-6 new stalks each). The ones that I have been trying to germinate outside of the freezer have been in a container folded in a damp towel for around 3 weeks and only one has sprouted and I am doing my best to nurse it.

sorry for the lack of info I was just mainly concerned about the growth of my seeds being as the second year plants are doing just fine and will hopefully produce seed pods this year
PRO
beesneeds
6 years ago
Oh dear. Freezer? No, you want those in the fridge. Chill, not freeze... especially if you don't know how to handle seeds in and out of the freezer, you can mess them up.

If you have a sprout, it needs to go into soil, not remain in a damp towel.
Dylan Formaggioni .
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
The seeds are just in a plastic bag with no moisture so I figured they wouldn't freeze and I moved the sprout into a cup when I started seeing roots and now have it under a grow light. Seeds were also very dry and had been drying for about 4 months just sitting in a bag.
PRO
beesneeds
6 years ago
Viable seeds should have a moisture content, and yes, that can freeze. If they are so dry that they cannot freeze, they are also probably so dry that they are no longer viable.
Dylan Formaggioni .
Original Author
6 years ago
I just moved them to the fridge, we don’t have much room in the fridge being as we are stocking food but should I put them in a container with soil or just leave them in the bag?