Agapanthus germinate reasonably well from fresh seed. Barely cover, mist to keep moist. I found as seedlings they did not like to be disturbed so try using something deeper than seed punnets so you can grow them on a bit. They develop a huge root system eventually but I would not be inclined to plant out until they are at least 3 or 4 inches tall. Yes they appear to be a bit slow growing at first. In warmer areas some people do regard them as a bit of a weed but they are very hardy. Round our district esp a local golf course they use them a lot in street-landscaping those in sun seem to flower a lot earlier than the ones in shade. They are probably pretty gross feeders but sometimes too much nitrogen leads to all leaves and if you use a "bloom booster" fertilizer in summer you may have more success.

I rushed out and had a closer look at my aggies - and yes! there were three little babies, leaves about 3-4 inches, snuggled in near a couple of the larger plants. How exciting! Your advice appreciated.

Eve

Whoo hoo!!! I finally got some fresh seed!! My grandson picked the pods off their plants and I hope they were ripe as the pods were green but splitting. I put those in a bag of peat and will keep the rest a day or two and try something else. Maybe I'll give him a bag to catch the rest.

Annabel: I think the seeds might have to be ripe/dry before you plant them - a dry, paperish, brown disc with the black seed in the centre. The pod itself goes brown and dry.

Perhaps you could put the next pod/s in a brown paper bag, twist the top and leave in a warm dry place until the seeds dry out and are released from the pod.

If the owner of the parent plant agrees, you could slip a piece of panty hose over the developing pod, tie or peg the top and bottom and wait for the pods to mature on the plant. The panty hose will allow air circulation, dry quickly if they get wet and collect the seed for you.

I could not tell Luke that they were too green, but I have got several pods I'm drying out. I had to plant some for him. He gave me about a dozen pods. I think next door to him has some Aggies as well, so maybe he can get some riper ones. Thanks, Ann

Wombat - are you perhaps talking about Honesty? Papery brown disc doesn't sound like agapanthus at all. Agapanthus are more elongated like little 3 sided pea pods.
Mine never went completely brown, and there were lots of flat black seeds inside them. If you leave them on the plant until they are blown, chances are they will open and shed their seeds before you can collect them. I pick the stalks at the first sign of ripening and store them somewhere so that if the seeds fall I can gather them.
I had excellent germination from mine. I collected seeds from a friends VERY big dark blue aggies, and my seedlings are a mixture of small and large plants. It will be interesting to see what the produce in the way of flowers, perhaps next summer.
Cheers, Jan

No, no, Sparaxis - not honesty, honestly. Think much smaller. I guess I didn't give a very good description. But the agapanthus seed has a papery covering.

Yes - I see what you mean now - you mean the seed itself, not the pod :-)Like a little spaceship

Trying out my first time to germinate Agapantha from seed .Is there a right time to plant them like when the mature plants are droping their seeds or do you save them till next spring?

I harvested my ag seeds last year. Will they still germinate if I plant them now?

Just got myself two sets of agapanthus seed - one pale pink, one darker pink. Fairly excited. I've never grown anything from seed before. Am googling for how-tos and tips. Much appreciated if anyone can share their advice. I'm in subtropical Australia (byron bay, norther nsw) - zone 10 in usa, zone 4 in aus. I'm thinking bigger-than-seedling pots (as someone above suggested) aaand I'm thinking I'll plant in a mix of peat and vermicast (worm excrement)....hmm...not real sure what else I need to do - maybe cover with plastic?, keep out of the sun?, mist daily? ...

Haven't looked in on this forum for quite a while, I see RexEdwardFairy's question is now months old.

More a matter now of "how did you go" I think? The only thing I'd say is don;t get your hopes up regarding colour. The new "pinks" are a result of years of hibridization and extreme patience and the only sure way to replicate the parents is then by cloning (division or propagation by tissue culture).
However, of course, the variations were obtained from seed to start with so there is no saying you won't get SOMETHING different. It's just that in my own experience the only ones to come true from seed are the plain old blue or white (or the minis of the same - I had success with some white seed years ago and after multiple divisions now have quite a nice lot of little bulbs)

I'm trying for the first time to grow these from seeds off my own plants. They've just started dropping so I have planted about two dozen in a small dirt patch that I laughingly call a garden to see how they will go.

Oh Dear! I picked my agapanthus seed pods too early. I'm leaving New Zealand until next spring ( November) If i leave them in my storage locker in a paper bag will they ripen and dry out so they can be planted? Or will i have to wait another year to collect more mature pods? Thanks for your help!!!

No, they should still germinate next spring. Gees this message has been going for 10 years!

I recently brought from Mexico these pods that are about 10 times bigger than the normal agapanthus I have in the garden, and also round like a walnut, but a bit smaller.
The plants themselves were huge.
Is this a different variety? Do I just plant them fresh or dry them out?
Thanks

In tasmania they have done the same as NZ and become a roadside weed, may have something to do with our climates. In NSW they were not where they were supposed to be if I recall.

One thing nobody has mentioned so far - agapanthus are a bulb, and after flowering all bulbs (including agapanthus) generally divide. Year one: 1 bulb becomes 2. Year 2: 2 become 4 - and so on. That's why people quite often have to thin them out. I have often tried planting seeds in a very casual and unscientific way (i.e. sprinkling them about), but I don't think they have ever sprouted. This is in contrast to them being a declared weed in some places. I suppose its because I live in a temperate climate with a cold wet winter and very hot dry summer. I myself gave up on seeds.