Date: Mon, 3 Feb 1997 15:49:50 GMT+1 From: "Andreas Wistuba" <A.Wistuba@DKFZ-Heidelberg.DE> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg469$foo@default> Subject: Re: Lowrie seeds debate
> From the reactions to my posting regarding germination
> problems with seeds of Lowrie, it appears that some other
> growers share my experience. IMHO the quality of his
> seeds was the main reason for my bad results instead of
> bad stratification, sowing procedure/medium/ conditions
> etc. The point is that I treated (stored, stratified,
> sow) seeds from different sources identically and
> simultaneously. It was clear that seeds from the ICPS
> (USA) and CPS (UK) seed banks germinated much better.
> Those seed banks offer plenty seeds of good quality and
> at low cost. I do not know who is to blame. Part of
> Allen/s seeds seem to come from other people, so maybe
> some seeds are bad before they arrive in his hands.
I'd be VERY VERY CAREFUL discussing things like this on a medium like
the internet. Do not underestimate the power of this medium and keep
in mind that your experiences do not necessarily mean, others share
it. Allen Lowrie has many seeds of Australian or South African CPs
in stock. These seeds are known to be extremely hard to germinate
(sometimes even more when they're fairly fresh!!!). Comparison with
the CPS seedbank is a little funny since they sometimes buy or trade
seeds from Allen Lowrie.
IMHO if I buy seeds of a tuberous Drosera I should be aware that my
chances to get good germination are quite limited regardless the
source of the seeds.
> I can think of indication of collection
> date (or year at least) and anonymous indication of the
> supplier (#01, #12 etc). Realistic, unfortunately not
> foolproof and time- consuming. On the other hand,
> when I pay $3 for a few seeds, I believe it is
> reasonable to expect some effort to improve quality.
Really? I regard $3 as fairly cheap and I doubt that it's realistic to
ask for such a service when paying just $3.
To add my own experience;-):
In the past I bought a number of seeds from him and never had the
impression I was receiving bad material ot too small quantities. The
germination was as expected - some of the tuberous Droseras
germinated nicely, others did not - but that's life. I never felt I
could blame HIM because I had some problems to germinate the most
difficult 'germinators' among CPs!
BTW a discussion on tricks how to overcome such seed dormancies (e.g.
by using Giberellic acid, smoke, ...) would be interesting and
perhaps more fruitful.....
Andreas
Andreas Wistuba; Mudauer Ring 227; 68259 Mannheim; Germany
Phone: +49-621-705471 / +49-621-7152027
Fax: +49-621-7152028
E-Mail: andreas.wistuba@rhein-neckar.de
WWW: http://www.rhein-neckar.de/~carnivor/index.html
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