Hi, this spring i starter breeding peonies, i made a bunch of crosses between lactifloras and i’ve noticed that a few pods have already opened up in june, showing the yellow seeds. I read that viable seeds should be black. Does this mean that the cross was unsuccessful? This happened only with lactifloras, not hybrids.
![]()
7 Comments![Profile picture of Nicola]()
Hi, thank you so much for replying. I’ve waited and now the herbaceous ones are almost all brown. They look kinda crispy though, do you think this will impact their viability?
![]()
![Profile picture of khurtekant]()
As far as I can see, they are not good and will do nothing. Good seeds are more or less round. If they have that shape, it is probably because those were ‘hollow’ seeds. Good seeds are ‘full’ and when placed in water will sink (unless dried out very much). It’s not unusual, I also have some results from crossing giving nearly all hollow seeds. If you have several varieties, I’m pretty sure you’ll also have good round seeds which will sink and do have an embryo inside.
![Profile picture of Nicola]()
Hi, now that the majority of my crossings have matured, i can see the difference! Those in the photo i posted early are no good, thank you! Here’s a picture of healthy seeds!
![]()
![Profile picture of Nicola]()
If i may, i’d like to ask you another question, this time regarding the germination process. I read your article about the germination substrate (very interesting and useful) i prepared the ziplock bag with 20 grams of dry fine vermiculite and i put inside the seeds (they were previously hydratated in water for 3 days) and i calculated the 7% of water required for 20 grams of vermiculite like this: 20 x 0,07 =1,4 grams of water. My question is: isn’t it to little water? I mean, the vermiculite in the ziplock bag is basically dry, as in the picture. Can you help me?
![]()
![Profile picture of khurtekant]()
Hello. The round seeds look good indeed. As to the vermiculite I can see I wasn’t detailed enough in the article. The 7% should be volume/volume, not weight/weight. For water it doesn’t matter since 1 gram of water is equal to 1 ml of water (since the specific gravity of water is 1). But vermiculite is very light, thus 20 grams is quite a lot of vermiculite, it should be more than 1,4 grams of water. I usually take 5 litres of vermiculite and thus add 350 ml of water which I then mix thoroughly. It will still feel rather dry, but not as dry as what you have now. So perhaps take a measuring cup of 1 liter and add 70 ml of water, mix it and then fill the ziplock bags with it, finally adding the seeds.
![Profile picture of The Peony Society]()
The article was updated to clarify that it is calculated volume/volume and not weight/weight.
Share Profile
The seed pods have opened up too early, but the seeds themselves are good. The yellow ones will turn brown. Leave them as they are, at the beginning of July they’ll probably be ready to harvest. If you harvest them now, they’ll simply rot. Hybrids at this time will be red, those will turn black. You need brown or black seeds, not yellow or red ones.