Howdy George, I have been talking to few people about Gigantea seed being dificult to germinate, I gather you do the embryo technique for this reason.
Years ago I saw a paper on the net where rose seed was soaked in 50% Sulphuric acid at time periods of 30, 60, and 90 seconds. Results were, germination was induced at high rates.
Just a thought for to consider
Someone on this forum (I am fairly sure) once wrote that their R.gigantea seed germinated without trouble.
Others, on the other hand, seem to have gotten zero germinations from their dried R.gigantea seed, even beyond 18 months of sowing (as of the last time I heard about their case).
I wonder whether this is reflecting varying degrees of dry seed-induced deep “embryo dormancy” (ie. ??very waxy embryos in very dry seeds??).
It would be great to know how freshly picked R.gigantea achenes behave in conventional germination.
George I have a desert bowl full of Gigantea hips picked 3 days ago, I will stratify them and sow ASP. Some of the rest I am going to put them through the acid treatment for comparison.
That is fantastic!!
If you have a few to spare I would also love if you could send me a few of these fresh ones in the mail, I would love to see how fresh ones react to the WEC protocol, compared to these dry ones!!
It would be most interesting to comapre all three results!!!
Here it is 24hr later:
@ 9 o’clock is the now fully dead remaining cotyledon, @ 6 o’clock is the small second new leaf (dead)… @ centre seems to be a reflective tiny new leaf.
hmmmmm… like two steps back one step forward…LOL
For time perspective, I think it is like 2 weeks old now since sowing it as a greening and sprouting “embryo-seedling” into the perlite/seedling mix.
It died