A Prairie Moon Greenhouse
January 25, 2010 by Humphrey
Filed under Prairie Moon Happenings
Seed production at Prairie Moon will be embarking on a different track. In an attempt to provide our customers with seed that has been difficult to find in the past, we have erected a greenhouse for starting plants in a more controlled environment.
The seeds that we plan to grow for seed production are being stratified now and will be sown in flats in the greenhouse in March. When ready, we’ll move the seedlings into plots outside. All we have to do then is sit back and wait a few years. Then if things go well we can start to collect seeds.
Let us know if you are having trouble finding a particular species or ecotype of native seed.
What is the best way to propagate Wild Geranium seed? We collected geranium seed in June and planted it right away bcause one source told us the seeds are short-lived in dry storage. We have only 2 seeds germinating out of 6 flats of lots of seed (July 30). Another source says that they will germininate in about 14 days and that geraniums can be “erratic in germination.” What does Prairie Moon suggest? Do we need more patience?
Thanks, Janet
HI Janet. We have had best success with cold, moist stratifiying Geranium seed for up to 2 months before planting OR simply planting it outdoors on a prepared site in the Fall. We keep our seed in cold, dry storage (70 degree seedroom with very low humidity – 30%) and the seed tests on it continue to be very high when we send it to the lab. It does not seem to need refrigeration like some other woodland species. I would try artificial stratification by following germ code C in our catalog and online and see what kind of results you get.