Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Lupine -- Texas Bluebonnets

So my Texas Bluebonnets are going to be the plants I have the most "experimenting" happening with. Here's a general rundown of the plant:

  • Annual
  • Full Sun
  • 21 Day Germination (3 weeks)
  • Average Soil
  • Blooms 1st year
  • Doesn't like having roots disturbed--don't transplant
  • Drought tolerant
So according to everyone there seem to be various "best" methods for starting the seeds. I've decided to undertake all of the ones I've found with my 60 seeds. Here are the 6 kinds of "starts" I plan on giving these seeds:

  • Group A: 7 day cold treatment (seeds between moist paper towels in a ziploc bag in the fridge)-- I just realized I may have screwed this because this morning I put them in the freezer. I just took them out and put them in the fridge so....yeah we'll see how that goes.
  • Group B: Chip seeds then soak 24hr in warm water
  • Group C: Chill 2 days then nick
  • Group D: Chill 2 days then sandpaper
  • Group E: Freeze overnight, then pour over with boiling hot water and soak for several hours before planting
  • Group F: Soak seed overnight
I'll keep you posted on how well each group does and at what day I see the first germination. Groups C and D are going to get started a little late probably because I have a feeling Im going to want to plant ASAP when I get back from this wedding and not want to wait 2 additional days for more chilling.





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