Seed treatment

Stratification: Many types of seeds need to be mixed with a wet medium for a period of time to germinate. For example, you can mix the seeds with sand in an airtight bag (4 parts sand, 1 part seed) or you can plant them in moist soil (but not too moist, as they will rot) in plug trays and leave them to overwinter in a place where mice cannot get hold of them. Heat stratification means that the seeds should be kept at room temperature - 15-20 degrees. Cold stratification means that the seeds should be kept at refrigerator temperature - about 5 degrees. If the seeds start to germinate, they must be planted immediately. In the seed list you will find the recommended seed treatment for each type of seed. ​

Scarification: For lack of a good Norwegian word. This is a method that aims to soften the hard shell of certain seeds. The easiest way to do this is to put the seeds in water at 88 degrees and leave them in the water for several hours while it cools. The alternative is to gently sand the seeds with sandpaper. ​

ID: Not dormant. These are seeds that do not need any kind of pre-treatment ​

KS: Cold stratification. Followed by the number of weeks. For example KS8 = Cold stratification for 8 weeks ​

VS: Heat stratification. Followed by the number of weeks. For example VS6 = Heat stratification for 6 weeks ​

SC: Scarification. ​

Some seeds need to be heat-stratified before they are cold-stratified, VS12 + KS12 then means that the seeds should be heat-stratified for 12 weeks followed by 12 weeks of cold-stratification.