On Sat, 18 Jan 2003 22:43:56 -0000, "tony"
wrote:

could anyone tell me the best way to get my seeds to strike? i`ve had them
in the refridgerator for 22 days and still no sign of life. can i put them
outdoors instead? i believe that frost can make them strike, is this right?
thank you in advance for any advice,
tony.


One autumn a few years back, a friend gave me an envelope full of
Meconopsis betonicifolia seeds which she had collected from plants in
her garden. Having little idea what to do with them, I left the
envelope in a kitchen drawer until around February or March when,
feeling guilty at having ignored them, I decided I'd better do
something with them.

I shoved some multipurpose compost in a pot, sowed the seeds on the
surface and covered them with about a quarter of an inch of coarse
grit. I then put the pot outside in the rain and cold. I doubt if
they got much frost, but it certainly was pretty chilly from time to
time. A few weeks later, seedlings emerged like the proverbial
mustard and cress.

Now the only reason why I gave the seeds this treatment was because I
didn't know any better and hadn't realised that Meconopsis seeds were
"difficult".

I can't help wondering whether we don't sometimes make seed-sowing
much more complicated than it has to be.

Norman Tulloch