First of all, if seeds were formed, and ripened (they'd be about the size of your thumbnail, papery, and black, with a thickened center), then they most likely will germinate. If not, what have you lost by giving it a shot? Activated carbon is totally unneccessary (but you can get it in any tropical fish supply store - even Walmart, most likely); just float 'em in a bowl of water in a warm windowsill, and in a week or two they'll form a root and a green shoot. Or you can just save yourself some time and scatter them on the surface of some moist potting soil, cover lightly, and keep the whole deal warm and moist for a couple of weeks until they germinate. The only problem at that point is that you will need lots of room to grow any number of young plants to blooming size (and it takes two or three years under the best of conditions). Another note is that setting seed draws lots of energy from the bulb after flowering, so don't be suprised if that particular plant requires a season or two of recovery time with lots of water, sun, and heavy feeding before it's capable of blooming again. If bulblets form, you'll see smaller sets of leaves rising alongside the mother bulb as it grows over the summer. I wouldn't be in a hurry to detach them - they'll grow faster connected to the main bulb.

Very pretty! That could be some sort of crinum. Is the foliage a rosette? The hippeastrum/amaryllis forum has an excellent FAQ that gives good directions on the "float" method for hippeastrum seeds. And given your climate, just direct planting would probably be fine. Cover very lightly and keep moist - they take around a month to sprout.

These bulbous seeds are typical for the members of the Amaryllideae subgroup (clade) within the maryllid plants (Amaryllidaceaee) Best known members are the genera Amaryllis, Crinum, Nerine. These plants originate mainly from Africa, whereas Hippeastrums (and other genera like Habranthus, Rhodophiala, Sprekelia...) belong to another clade of american Amaryllids called Hippeastreae and these produce mostly NUMEROUS seeds per seed pod which form discoid or winged shaped dark papery foils. (There are exceptions like Hippeastrum reticulatum which produces only VERY few and plump seeds per seed pod). The relationships are clarified and schematized in http://www.shieldsgardens.com/amaryllids/amaryllidaceae.htmlhref> I have repeatedly observed that Amaryllis belladonna and hippeastrums are confused with each other in this forum. I prefer to use the term "gardener's amaryllis in order to avoid that and I suggest you to do the same or to clarify the meaning once in the beginning of a message by the statement Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) or Amaryllis (knight star lily). As far as I know the seeds of all members of BOTH mentioned groups of amaryllogene plants should be transferred into a suitable soil bed as quick as possible in order to achieve a good germination rate. The biggest amaryllid's seeds I ever saw were those from Crinum moorei. After self pollination most of the flowers aborted seed development. These few which were more fortunate *g* produce one and in some cases two seeds only, but these were giants, and they insisted on germinating very quickly (without any soil) click on the th_'s href> href> href> Why do you want to lose time - Sow immedietly these seeds which you obtained from your amaryllid treasure. Liebe Gruesse Hans-Werner

Soultan - I'm very happy to hear you're having the meeting taped!! Great idea! Perhaps it will help change things a bit in your favor! I am more than interested to hear how things go at that meeting! What a shame the orchid-lady's greenhouses are in disrepair... any time I see an empty greenhouse, I always think what a waste it is, going unused like that... and it's also a shame that you have no sunny window space to place your seed trays in... that all being the case, I hope you have your seeds stored well! Perhaps when everything is said and done, and the construction is over, you can finally find the space and time to get them planted. Primeribs - There was a time, not that long ago, that I would have said your name is making me hungry... I love prime rib! Nice thick, juicy, medium-rare to rare prime rib swimming in its own juices! Mmmmm! But I haven't eaten meat in a long time! I'm not a vegetarian... I went healthy and decided to lose weight and boost my body with good nutrition. I have Lupus, so my immune system needs a lot of help! I eat 2 meal replacement shakes a day, fruit and yogurt, and a handful of vitamins. I've lost almost 40 lbs., I hardly ever get sick, and I feel pretty darn close to "great"!! As far as seed viability goes, I think genetics has a lot to do with how long they last. Storage method would also be a factor, as Elizabeth noted. As with any seed, though, the longer you wait to plant them, the lower the germination rate... I keep all my seeds in little paper envelopes in a closed container, and for some reason, I never seem to be able to throw out old annual and perennial seeds that I've saved. It's the "packrat gene" in me! Last spring, I planted several packets of perennial seeds that were at least 4 years old, maybe older... the germination rate was very low, almost non-existent! I did manage to grow a few plants from each packet, but I sure wish I had planted them sooner! I did notice, however, that even some of the fresh seed I bought this year had a low germination rate... I wonder why that is? Even the green beans I planted had a low rate, and those seeds grow like weeds normally!!