In an attempt to determine the effects of seed pre-treatment on germination rates, I did the following experiment.

In May, 2004, I collected seed from a single Helleborus x hybridus that is a heavy seed producer and which has had good germination in the past. The seeds were all the result of self-pollinating the plant in early 2004. (The parent plant is the result of hand-pollination of a 'Royal Heritage'seed parent with pollen from an Helleborus x hybridus that has been in my family as long as I have.)

I divided the seeds into groups of twenty. I planted one group immediately after seed collection. I planted one group two weeks after seed collection, by which time the seed was withered. I soaked one group of seed in water for one hour before planting. I soaked one group of seed in water for three days before planting. I soaked one group of seed in hydrogen peroxide for one hour before planting.

The seeds were sown in separate, labeled pots in a medium of 2 parts Whitney Farms seedling mix and 1 part vermiculite. I kept them outdoors, where they received intermittent rain. I watered them occasionally during the summer. The coldest temperature they experienced before germination was 26 degrees Fahrenheit.

Seedlings began to emerge right after a cold spell in which soil in the pots froze.

Seedlings from each group emerged at about the same time and with the same vigor. Nineteen out of twenty seeds germinated from both the group planted immediately after collection and the group stored for two weeks before planting. Twenty out of twenty seeds soaked in water for three days germinated. Eighteen out of twenty seeds soaked in hydrogen peroxide germinated. Eighteen out of twenty seeds soaked in water for one hour germinated.

The seedlings grew on well, except for one seedling from the group that was soaked in water for three days. It developed seed leaves, but no root. This was probably a genetic defect.

While the sample size in this experiment was small, the results suggest that these methods of pretreating Helleborus x hybridus seeds don't produce significantly greater germination than simply planting fairly fresh seed.

Always experimenting,

Elizabeth