Sow Your Own! -- Part Two

Did you save some daylily seeds last fall? If you followed our earlier Sow Your Own, Part One instructions (posted on the gardenfarmer blog on 8/13/11), you’ve had them tucked away in your refrigerator for about five months now. They’re ready to be slowly awakened from their long winter’s nap, sort of like the Sleeping Beauties of the daylily world. You get to play the part of the Handsome Prince.

Daylilies come in three broad types – dormant, semi-evergreen, and evergreen. Dormant seeds need the benefits of stratification and soaking in order to germinate, more than the other two types. Stratification simply means chilling, in this case; and soaking is a bit of a misnomer – we just want to give them some moisture. (Interestingly, dry chilling does nothing to promote germination, but does preserve the viability of the seeds over long periods of time.)

So first, assemble what you need: hydrogen peroxide, water, some sort of absorbent paper – paper towel, coffee filter – and, if you have one, an eye dropper is useful, but not necessary.

Fill a small bowl with water and add about a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide to it.
Next, cut or tear the absorbent paper into small pieces, perhaps 1-inch-square.
Place a piece of absorbent paper into each little seed bag; then add an eye dropper full to the paper to moisten it.

No eye dropper? – you can dip the piece of paper into the water/peroxide mixture, then place it in the seed bag.
A word of caution here: you are not trying to SOAK the seeds – don’t add too much, or they may rot! The goal is to just add moisture; if we can get technical for a moment, the moisture increases the permeability of the seed coating so that the embryo inside is exposed to oxygen, thereby stimulating germination. Soaking them reduces the exposure to oxygen – rather counterproductive, hm?

Back in the fridge they go. Research shows that four to eight weeks at temperatures between 32 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit is optimal – and isn’t that convenient? Your fridge temps are probably right smack in the middle of that range. Or at least they should be!

At the end of that time – which, since I just moistened my seeds today, will mean mid-to-late March – the seeds will be ready to plant. Some will have already germinated, others not visibly yet. Stay tuned for Part 3 in March.