If the seedlings are growing well then do not enhance the fertilizer strength. Just take care to maintain a good cycling between wet and dry. That means do not water TOO soon when the soil begins to dry out - and water well when the soil has just sufficiently dried out. I could very well imagine that this cycling promotes a good root growth and provocates this meanwhile famous-"grown" MILD stress which stimulates the plants repeatedly and enhances the overall performance on a long time distance. I have clear observations that "always rather humid" is not beneficial, even in coco substrate which transports water so quickly. On the other hand it is not wise to keep them a little bit TOO dry permanently. This will then VERY considerably slow down the further development. Instead I (still) recommend to fertilize with EVERY watering. You simply divide the previously employeed fertilizer dose on every water administering. Hans-Werner

This was my response before the forums decided to delete it! thanks everyone for the responses, very interesting. I do know that it is possible to get some degree of variation from selfing a hipp but didn't think you can get this wild a variation! so I'm going to correct myself here - the original hipp was not a minerva. Not sure what it was though (and don't have it anymore). Here's a pic of it. Can anyone identify it for me? I guess when you look at the flower below (the product of self pollination of the above hippeastrum) you can see some degree of resemblance. and the one from seed thought to be a self from the above bulb: Cheers, Dan And Jodik's response... It's beautiful, Dan... there's a marked resemblance, even though the red is a bit darker and there are certain differences. When breeding, having an accurate history makes it so much easier when you're trying to isolate or combine certain characteristics... or when you're trying to breed in a certain direction. Without an accurate accounting of the ancestry of our dogs, we wouldn't even consider breeding. We'd have no idea of what poor traits were hiding, and this could be dangerous within the world of canines. We keep extremely detailed records, and we crunch data to get an idea of what a prospective outcome might be for a particular pairing. Technology makes it all easy these days. We use certain tools and certain processes, such as inbreeding or tight line breeding... and culling plays an important role, as well. With flowers, it's a bit different... self pollinations are possible, along with crosses... widening the possibilities. I still have a lot to learn about plant breeding, but I find it just as fascinating. jodik

I have successfully multiplied amaryllis bulbs into 16-18 bulblets. It was done when the bulb was at the end of dormancy, that is, 15 January in Pakistan. The bulb was divided into 16 with a sharp sterile knife, with a part of basal plate attached with the chips. The chips were submerged in antifungus solution for fifteen minutes. Then some clean sand was sterilized by heating and moisted with sterile water. 1/4th of a new transparent polythene bag was filled with this moist sand. The chips were put in the sand with basal plates touching the sand. After blowing air into the bag, it was let resting in a dark place. After about a month you can see small bubls with green leaves emerging from the basal plates. When it swell to the size of a pea, separate them from the chips and plant outdoor. Sometimes, 16 chips will produce more than 16 bulbs.

If you are trying to get Apple Blossom to produce seeds, they will come true. You just need to hand pollinate them while they are in bloom. Take the pollen from the anthers and rub it onto the stigma, on the same flower (see link below). I know you said you weren't trying to cross pollinate, but it's just as easy if you decide to try it. You would do the same for self-pollinating, but take the pollen from one flower and transfer to stigma on another flower. Here is a link that might be useful: