Date: 24 Jan 97 15:30:54 EST From: Mike Salmon <100114.2461@CompuServe.COM> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg360$foo@default> Subject: Re: Seeds from Lowrie
Christian Breckpot Wrote:
*** Indeed, Lowrie/s seed list is very impressive. My experience is
that the number of his seeds that germinate is far less
impressive !
For three consecutive years, I ordered a number of seeds. The
results were very poor. I am not talking about tricky things like
Australian cp seeds which are known to be slow in germinating.
Even the easy ones, like Sarracenia, did not came up. Seeds from
other sources, treated identically, germinated like nothing.
I guess some of his seeds are not stored properly or/and are
simply too old. Why does he not indicate the date of collection
like some other companies do ?
If I were alone, I would not have posted this message, but the
fact is that I have heard more complaints about the quality of
his seeds.
Right or just bad luck ? I would like to hear the opinion of
other subscribers.
***
My experience with Sarracenia seeds has been very similar. Less than 10%
of Sarracenia seed packs from Lowrie yeilded me any seedlings at all. Where
there was germination very few seeds in the pack germinated, except in one case
where I got what I consider to be a normal germination rate. I feel I largely
wasted my money. This is a shame because Alan does a lot of good work for the CP
comunity.
I have done some experiments and believe that Sarracenia seed is best
sown fresh and then stratified. According to my experiments Sarracenia seed that
passes through a 0.5mm sieve does not germinate. Maybe the problem with Lowrie's
seed is age, maybe it is storage or maybe it is the temperature changes in its
various journeys arround the world. I suppose I was unwise buying seeds from
Australia when I live in the U.K. I find that seed from the UKCPS seed bank
germinates with virtually 100% success but in this case the journey the seed has
made is much shorter and it has presumeably not been subjected to such
temperature changes as seed in the cargo hold of a plane. Maybe the various seed
bank organisers could share their successful storage techniques with all of us?
Maybe there is a place for providing feedback to seedbank organisers as part of
the"fee" for using the bank so that the CP comunity can build up information on
the maximum length of time it is best to store seed and the best storage
stratagy for each type?
Please don't take my comments the wrong way I hope to share
information so that past mistakes are not repeated in the future and I do not
critacise anyone except myself for thinking that seed subjected to such journeys
was likely to be high quality.
Mike Salmon
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