Short guide from two variety to your own seedlings

I am very love this process, so I hope to make this fun experience for you. So this is it: 

 

Chose your favorite and nice looking variety, which you want to cross. This one is mom. Thornbird

Take off lower petal.

Do not be afraid, I am just showing. You can leave them if want, but then your cross could be with some bee pollens from other plants, because when bees goes on beard then it can took other iris pollens. So better do the same like me.

Take out all lower petals.

Look interesting and like big work done, but this is just a beginning.

Take out all up petals. You can leave them. I do it to show you better how to cross irises. If you want, you can leave them all, and just do pollination inside.

I take out all of them and leave only pollens and pistil.

Look poor without all fancy petals, but this view is just good for hybridizer.

Pollens under pistil

This is one of 3 pistils. That white.

Take out pollens from other your favorite, good variety. I chose Superstition, because it is my favorite, perfect grower and great form iris.

I use tweezers, because it works better for me. You can pick them with cotton buds, or just take out with fingers.

And this is magic part. I add pollens on pistil. As you see, irises have 3 pistils, so you can pick pollens on each, and only for one. And still you can get seedpods.For better protect you can get a piece of material and cover your cross. I do it not all the time, because I take out all petals.

After 2-4 weeksyou can see this view. Crosses made and give you a seedpod. Don't be very happy. Remove all bract. They can cause a rot and your cross go out with no seeds in it...

When your seedpods go brown and open you can pick them and harvest seeds. Just be carefully. Seedpods love pop out some seeds, so you must to harvest it before it open, or have some protection.

With labels add in zip-lock package and wait for time to sow.

If you want, that your seeds go sprout at the first year 90-100 % then you must to soak them. I add them in cruet with water, and mix it. Then all chemical from hard seed coat goes out with water and them sprout very easy.
Seeds I sow in fall, before frost.

And in spring I see my seeds go sprout and start to grow.

They grow very fast.

And if you want to see blooms next year replant them to give more space.

I usualy replant them in last summer month, when it is the best time to replant them. There is month old seedlings

And this is how they look in fall after replanting.

After winter they feel just good. I see some have few kids. That mean, they will bloom this year!

Other seedlings give a lot green. And I hope, they will bloom next year. Time will show. As you see, they need more space, so don't afraid and replant them. You want big and healthy fans.

Add in soil some fertilizer + compost, and then all our seedlings look like these two.

 



I don't show what is result of those seedlings, because I have already done it. Just look down few post back. There is my two irises seedling. Others I am still wait.
I hope this will be helpful and you can use this information for your work.
In beginning I search for this information in Lithuanian language. I don't found anything about breeding irises. Then found article in Russian, so I just enjoy a pictures. After all of that I met my first metor who teach me this things. After that I found some information in AIS. In English. And at that time I wasn't be well in English. I am not perfect and now. But for that time was very bad.
So in conclusion. Better to learn English, than found this information in Lithuanian... Sad, but true. There no one care this. Just I did. So why I must to write it in Lithuanian and enjoy only by myself, or write it like now and make happy all world, who use English :D
Enjoy.