Germinating Everlasting Daisies

I made a point of sowing a lot of seed of some Xerochrysms and others last season thinking that it was a few years old and therefore the germination would be poor. However I also made the decision to smoke all the older seed to see if germination rates would improve. Unfortunately I wasn’t very scientific about it as I did not sow any unsmoked for comparison. I had little lawns sprouting in the seed containers, much to my delight and then consternation when I realised the work involved in potting on! 

I tried a smoked vermiculite product called Regen 2000. It must be kept perfectly dry once the pack is open. As only a small amount of vermiculite is used on top of the seed you need to be using a lot of it considering the size of the pack. Smoke for this purpose can be bought in various forms, as a liquid which is diluted, or smoke primers which are soaked in a little water, to which the seed is added. Or of course you try lighting smoky fires and doing your own!