I need blackberry help

Hi Songbird,

The search came up with only overseas sellers of plants.

I see the same thing you ar seeing:

Bilberries are found in acidic, nutrient-poor soils throughout the temperate and subarctic regions of the world. (Wikipedia)

Well, I have cold weather and I can fix the acidity of the soil. And I picked out the wettest part of my garden.

So far my Goji's are going great guns and three of my four Chokeberries (not cherries) are growing well. And, I finally found a source of those blackberries with the small seeds that sells plants.

And I am getting really suspicious of those zero germination seeds I have been getting: bilberries, blackberries, Bit Time radish (1 in 10 germinate), Bora King radish (1 in 10 germinate), and Imai Early Yellow Onion (zero germination).

Me thinks they are getting irradiated through customs.

-T

...

...

try these, in CA, so they won't go across any border:

also note that some cold weather plants may need some stratification of seeds for them to sprout and grow.

you may also have to give the plants shade in the hot summer to prevent them from frying.

songbird

Will try them if I can not find plants. Thank you!

These seeds came from Outside Pride.

The directions sounded exactly like my winters, so I planted them in early winter.

Again in spring when they did not come up.

T wrote: ...

they're very tiny seeds you may want to plant them in a container in the fridge to control the humidity and temperature better.

songbird

Huh? Interesting. I wonder if I'd remember to water them. Hmmm, dirt in the refreg, I wonder if I could get that past me wife?

T wrote: ...

in a container in a bag to keep the moisture in, with a slight gap to allow some air to get in and out.

i'm not actually sure if bilberries need this or not but i'm thinking it may just help because the seeds are are so small.

check it out, study, learn, try things, etc. ;)

songbird

Always!

Thank you!

That was the description the seller gave and I have seen elsewhere. From the wikipedia article:

In the wild, seed dormancy is usually overcome by the seed spending time in the ground through a winter period and having its hard seed coat softened up by frost and weathering action. By doing so the seed is undergoing a natural form of "cold stratification" or pretreatment. This cold moist period triggers

My winter perfectly matched what they described on the package.

Me thinks they were just dead. I do realize I have a black thumb, but thanks to you guys help, it is pretty much a gray thumb now-a-days. I will order from the source you gave me next time.

-T

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And I have noticed that Outside Pride no longer sell these seeds. Hmmmmmmm ...

It sounds similar to what is needed for trillium seeds to sprout.

The recommendation for the trillium seeds were to put them into the freezer for several weeks, then start the seeds indoors for later transplanting into their permanent home in the garden.

I will admit to getting a low rate of germination with the trillium even with the freezer treatment, but at least it's better than waiting all winter to find out that you've crapped out with them in the spring. There's still time to try the freezer routine again with new seeds or another batch.

I'm already growing blueberries (had a nice crop this year too), otherwise I might look into the bilberries myself.

Nyssa, who has zero vegetables this year after Bambi and crew wiped out the neighborhood's plantings, but managed to save the blueberries