I couldn’t have planned this, but we should learn from what we see.
Yesterday I noticed some small octopi floating in a half whiskey barrel that was intended for planting but got full of water and has stayed that way for years. It’s handy to have some water nearby when a single plant is getting dry in its pot and I don’t want to hook up the hose.
When I looked more closely I saw that each octopus was actually a seedling with green cotyledons and pink or white roots trailing behind. Sort of behind, anyway.
Last winter a bird or rodent had carried a fallen hip to the edge of the barrel. I remember seeing some orange chaff there. Apparently some seeds fell into the barrel and stayed there all winter.
Now they are coming up. Literally. As they germinate, they float to the surface. A few air bubbles get tangled among the roots, and the plant begins to grow. Take a look at all the roots. I potted this one today.
Full of water for years? That water has got to have some kind of funk to it, no?
Given the effect of decay on seed germination, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I would have expected some bacterial rot on the seedling before it got that far, given the relative anaerobic qualities of standing water. Pretty interesting. Fifty Proof is good. Barrel Fermented, maybe. And then there’s the whole line of backyard-still references one could use…
Too bad "White Lightnin’ " is gone! I’m surprised there weren’t mosquitoes! Though we’re savannah, leave any water out a week and it’s teaming with them!
Let us know how they do. Some how, the extreme smoothness of the stems do not look so very roselike. But maybe it is the sprouting in water that is causing this?
That’s amazing, Peter! Thanks for sharing it. Some how it makes me feel better and gives me hope, though I don’t know why, lol. Gee, I guess I’m going to have to go find me a barrel!
You should get some of those rose seeds from China that are advertised in another thread and put them in your whiskey barrel. Just think of all the potential names we could offer for those cultural mixtures!!! Names like Nigerian Nightmare, etc.
That’s right, friends–another seedling on Thursday. They just keep on coming. By the time they stop, it will be time for me to pull my more-conventionally-stratified seeds from the fridge.
I was dreaming about transplanting these seedlings last night. Boy, did they have amazing roots. The reality is not too shabby, as well. I’ve never seen a cotyledon stage seedling with that many roots.
That’s funny Neil! I was born in Shelby County, Alabama. It was a “dry county” surrounded by “not dry” counties. My parents were lab and X-Ray techs at the clinic in town and people were frequently brought in with injuries from exploded stills. Most of my childhood when we’d here sirens, my mom would shout, “Revenuers! Hid the still!” LOL!