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What do to with all the seed?

My S. purpurea ssp. purpurea seed pod recently burst open, and just now, I've cut it off and have it in a bowl. I scraped some of the seeds off, just to see how easily they would fall off.

I am planning on planting some of these, but what do I do with the rest of them? Could I send them off to people now if they wanted to plant them? Could I store them somehow without the intentions of planting them in the spring?

-Ben
 
Make sure they are dry, put them in a paper envelope. Put that in a zip lock plastic bag or some other airtight container, if you have a dessicant like a packet of silica gel that would be great to put in there too. Put it in the refrigerator. They should remain viable for several years in cold storage. Make sure to label the species, dates, any location information in indelible pencil or ink.

If you are an ICPS member you can donate some to the seedbank.

Giveaways for postage is always nice too.
 
Ok cool, thanks.

Would the storage in the refrigerator count as stratification? Or would I need to do something extra for that? What I mean is, after they have been stored for some years, could I take them out and just sow them? Or would they need to be taken out and prepared differently?

I am thinking of putting them outside in a pot, and then I guess covering them with a tent-ish thing that I saw on a webpage, and letting nature take it's course.

I am planning on giving a bunch away.

-Ben
 
easy way to fridge stratify is to wet down some LFS, put that in a ziplock bag with as many seeds as you want to sow, label it, and put it in the fridge for 4 weeks. After that sow. If you sow in that manner, you'll have to either wait until spring to sow them or grow them inside under grow lights.
 
Ok cool, thanks.

Would the storage in the refrigerator count as stratification? Or would I need to do something extra for that? What I mean is, after they have been stored for some years, could I take them out and just sow them? Or would they need to be taken out and prepared differently?
-Ben
From what I have read at various web sights, the seeds need several (about 3) months of cold, wet storage (stratification) to promote good germination. Cold storage alone will help keep them viable for several years, but without several months of stratification their germination rate will be low. The most common method used for stratification is to place the seeds on dampend paper towels placed inside a ziplock. This is placed inside the fridge. I like to check the seeds every couple of weeks and if the paper towels are starting to get too moldy, I replace them with fresh ones.
 
JBL does what I call a seedsicle. He has the seeds in water and freezes them. I have put the seeds in a centrifuge tbe of water and put in a bucket of cold water, in the attic, for the winter. Out latitude is the same, so attics provide the cold.
 
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