RsTgrower
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Stratifiying Black Raspberry Seeds

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and I recently got some black raspberry seeds. According to the packaging the seeds came in they require stratification and I was wondering how I should go about treating the seeds for the process, and what I should do specifically? I'd also like to know how long I should stratify the seeds for? Based off of what I've read online black raspberry seeds require cold stratification of some sort, but I just don't know any details for the process. I watched a video showing some lavender seeds being stratified by putting them in a ziploc bag with a moist folded paper towel and the guy kept them in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. Is that about how long I should keep these seeds refrigerated for? Do you think refrigeration is the best method of stratification for the seeds so that they can successfully germinate?

Thanks!

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!potatoes!
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failing having them stratify outside all winter, refrigeration is THE stratification technique. I'm not finding a reference for how long black raspberry seeds need, so I'd probably check them weekly to see if any are sprouting and pull them out if they are. otherwise go to 4 weeks.

RsTgrower
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!potatoes! wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 7:56 am
failing having them stratify outside all winter, refrigeration is THE stratification technique. I'm not finding a reference for how long black raspberry seeds need, so I'd probably check them weekly to see if any are sprouting and pull them out if they are. otherwise go to 4 weeks.
!potatoes! Thank you, I followed the video I watched and my seeds are currently in the refrigerator. I'll check them weekly like you suggested. 4 weeks as default sounds right to me if they do end up taking longer to sprout. If you'd like I'd be very interested in continuing to hear about your progress with your seeds - hopefully something comes from this preparation!

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!potatoes!
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stratification works well for lots of things. sometimes I have a half-dozen pots of different things outside all winter. this year I only outdoor-stratified spicebush seeds - and they're all up! I do have 4 or 5 things in the fridge that I didn't get til way too late. mostly woodland herbaceous perennials that'll be in there for 2 months total. if I think about it I'll post when they come out...end of june I think.

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Gary350
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The way I understand it stratification is something seeds need to experience for a certain length of time before they will germinate. I know there are certain seeds from Russia that must be frozen for 7 months to germinate. There are certain seeds that must go through the digestive system of animals before they germinate. There are certain seeds that must be planted early winter they only germinate 3 months later when weather finally get a certain temperature. There are some seeds that will not germinate if weather is too hot. Some seeds need to experience the cold & hot cycles of night and day with the heat of the hot sun to germinate. There are seeds that will not germinate in pots on in the house they require mother nature to be duplicated 100% perfect. If you have no instructions what stratification is for your seeds it might be hard to get them to germinate but I have an idea. Blackberry & Elderberry seeds are spread by birds. Birds eat the berries then land on a fence then poop out the seeds they seeds germinate and grow. I have a friend that tried to grow Elderberries from seeds for several years with no luck until he ate some elderberries then pooped in the garden then seeds germinated and grew plants. Question is, does warm body temperature give seeds what they need to germinate or does something in the digestive system give seeds what they need to germinate?

Cumberland Black Raspberries are very good.

Nyan
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Well, looking back at my old research farm days, I remember there were several plants spotlighted as needing to go through both the acidic conditions of the the stomach, followed by the alkaline condition of the intestines to prompt them to sprout.
Multiflor Rose was on commonly cited example. When the government introduced them with the plan of farmers growing hedgerows to save on fencing, they told everyone the seeds wouldn't sprout unless they went through a bird's digestive tract, and birds won't eat the fruits. Well, the birds DID eat the fruits...
They are one of the worst pasture invasive weeds now...

As to the first post, I had the best luck getting blackberry seed to sprout by refrigerating them a couple of months after running the berries through a juicer, which performed a rasping action on the seed coats.
I know that some clover and alfalfa seed used to be treated to a rasping before planting, due to the fact that they didn't all want to come up the first year, and rasping them induced much higher levels of sprouting.

More than anyone ever wanted to know... LOL!

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Gary350
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Nyan wrote:
Wed Jun 03, 2020 12:30 am
.
Multiflor Rose
Southern Illinois multiflor roses are everywhere. Grandfathers 20 acre cow pastor was so beautiful with many rose bushes making multi color flowers all summer. Multiflor roses are the only roses I know that make flowers all summer. Grandmother had 1 in the front yard it was 8 ft diameter and 7 ft tall and had about 500 pink roses all summer. Multiflor roses are illegal in Illinois but very hard to get rid of. My cousin owns that farm now all the rose bushes are gone.

Nyan
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A lot up in the north part of the state too. I remember living near the DuPage river south of Chicago, we would go out along the river and find LOTS of morels under the multiflor bushes at the edge of the woods. A very sticky adventure...

Back to black raspberries though, when I lived about 170 mile southwest of Chicago the wild raspberries were a like a seasonal time marker, as they would ripen just after the wild strawberries finished, and after the raspberries, the blackberries would start. A person couldn't starve if they tried... LOL

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Gary350
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Raspberries are ripe shortly before Blackberries about 2 weeks.



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