Bruce and Tanya....those all look like they are doing super. Let us know if you get anything neat from the varigated seedllings. I think a pretty flower on a plant with varigated foliage would be very cool. Good luck with those.
My oldest seedlings all got a hair cut two days ago. When you have 5-6 in a cup they tend to overshade the smaller ones when they reach 12-14 inches in height. I usually end up topping them off twice before it's time to plant. I know some people don't approve of this practice, but I still have got plenty of first year bloom in August and September despite my doing this. Try to get some new pics to post tomorrow.

Linda

I have a few starting to come up. I will try to post pictures later.

Bruce/ Tanya,
I'm most impressed with your seedlings! Please share some insight into your light source, type of Greenhouse/cover that you use. When did these seedlings get planted?
Weldon

I was, until recently, an indoor seed virgin. I usually winter sow crosses from my small daylily collection, this winter I traded some canna seeds for daylily seeds and when they arrived one had germinated. I figured they had been pre-treated and probably wouldn't survive wintersowing so I found my way to this forum and read up on the hybridizers methods of starting seeds. Here's the seedlings that have sprouted for me so far.

{{gwi:653851}}

I've got
Johnny Cash x Green Revolution
Mildred Mitchell x Clarity of Vision
Lake Effect x Clarity of Vision
and Maxfield Parrish x Featuring the Gold, which just sprouted yesterday.

My wintersown seeds germinated at under 20% so I'm looking forward to a method that gives me a higher germination rate. I've got my crosses in the fridge now with the rest of the unsprouted trades, since I got a late start it will be a few more weeks before I can take them out and try to start them. I've also got some LA wins coming so I can get a good idea of what germination rates I can expect now that I've got the process under my belt.

Jeanne

Hi Jeanne,

Can I ask what you have on the surface of your soil? If I had to guess, it looks like a fungus gnat deterrent - sand maybe or a combination of sand/cinnamon?

Thanks,
Marianne

Hi Marianne,

Yes, that's sand - I don't have cinnamon or anything else in it, it looks like I might have something leaching up from the soil or perhaps moss is starting. Is the cinnamon a gnat deterrent or fungicide? I have occasionally used chamomile to prevent damping off but haven't put anything on these seedlings except water.

Jeanne

I have not tried it myself but I have heard others speak of it as a gnat repellent. I just googled 'cinnamon' and 'gnats' and got a substantial number of hits with the two words appearing in the same article. There are probably pros and cons (isn't that true of everything?) but a lot of people seem to believe in it.

I thought the discoloration was cinnamon and I was curious to see if it was working for you...

I tried cinnamon last year during a terrible gnat infestation that wiped out 2/3 of my seedlings. It didn't work.

While the adult gnats did seem to avoid it, they just crawled down the stem of the seedlings into the crevices created by the leaves emerging & occasional root heave. Then they laid the eggs right inside the black seed casing so the larvae ate everything before it could grow out of the casing.

Eventually the cinnamon molds too and becomes more food for the larvae.

So far, treating the starter mix with boiling water and adding mosquito bits after it cools plus mosquito dunks (bt) in the water are working perfectly. I have not had a single gnat yet this year.

I keep trying to get a picture of my seedlings to post but my camera is acting up. Many of them are already as big now as they were at transplant time last year, though I'm still planting germination stragglers.

My method is similar to Bruce & Tanya's with the cups except that I plant 5-8 per cup since I have a much smaller shelf. Planting at that density I think I can fit 650-700 seedlings into shelving.

I am using one of those "indoor greenhouses" with the 4 shelves & plastic cover. I've tie-wrapped 2 grow lights to the bottom of each shelf and lined the inside of the cover with emergency blankets (mylar).

It keeps the humidity & lighting nice. Only difficulty is heat. I may have to figure out how to get some fans going in the top w/o wrapping leaves up in them.

As of today, I have planted seeds using a couple of different methods. It will be interesting to see the results in a few months. All my seeds have been in the refrig (dry storage) for a minimum of 4 months. No artifical lights or heating pads are used. Using Pro-mix.
Once planted, all are placed in a southern exposure.

I took Blue Voodoo X Edge of Heaven, Beam Me Up X Victorian Lace, Bahama Butterscotch X unknown, Siloam Little Girl X Unknown and soaked them in cups of peroxide solution. Started that on 1/29/09. Been changing the solution every 3 - 4 days. I leave the cups on the counter.
Siloam Little Girl X Unknown within a week had shown one seed with a rootlet so I went ahead and planted all the seeds in three separate containers. I had over 26 seeds.

Beam Me Up X Victorian Lace had 2 out of the 4 seeds show a rootlet today 2/13/09 so planted those today.

Odd thing with Bahama Butterscotch seeds. The seeds when first soaking were floating on top, I noticed today, that 3 out of the 4 seeds have sunk to the bottom of the cup. Any ideas why that happened? I tested the seeds to see if they were soft, but they are still hard.

Blue Voodoo X Edge of Heaven still no sign of rootlet.

Decided to go ahead and try another method that someone told me about and I believe I've seen it on this forum as well. Planted 50 hybrid seeds (parents are all unknown)I got from a seller in Florida, in a plastic shoe box. No presoaking the seeds.

Today I started soaking Ed Brown X J.T.Davis. I only have 5 seeds so hoping to get at least 3 of them to germinate.

Now I have to control myself from opening the containers to see how things are progressing. I don't want to lose the value of the "greenhouse" effect on any of the plantings.

Not a very scientific experiment but fun to pass the time while I'm waiting for spring. Only 5 more weeks!!!!

Julia

I pulled the seeds out of the fridge & put them out a couple of weeks back; saw a green nub poking out of the potting mix yesterday. I wanted to get everything from past years started this year. I saw (just yesterday) one jar of seed in the kitchen I missed.

An update showing the seedlings at 12 weeks.

{{gwi:653852}}

{{gwi:653854}}

Weldon,

Sorry for the very late reply. Life has just been a whirlwind lately. The seedlings were germinated using the "On the Rocks" method. We plant them when 4-5 seeds have sent out a root and only plant the germinated ones. They are grown indoors in our basement using as many 4' Flouresent shoplights as we can fit over them. The bulbs we use are alto 6,500k lightbulbs. Any bulb with a 6,500k rating will work just fine. We burn them 18 hours a day.

We plant outside with no hardening off and yes the foliage will die off, but new will grow quickly and it seems to not hurt them at all.

We're getting antsy up here and wonder where this global warming err global climate change is at! It's been in the teens here the last few nights.

Best Wishes all.

Bruce and Tanya

Folks - Those seedlings are looking great! This is the latest I've ever started mine. I started a few in biosponges last weekend, and today I'm starting a few seeds in damp coffee filters.

Debra

Julia,
It is common for a few seeds to float when first put into the soak. When they rehydrate they will sink.

I still have around 220 or so seeds that have not broken dormancy of around 800 that I started with the first of Jan.

All (except those purchased which I can't vouch for process before they got to me) were in dry storage in the fridge from harvest (Aug/Sept) until Thanksgiving weekend. Then stratified (wet/cold) in the fridge Thankgiving until Jan 1).

Then starting Jan 1, I took out approx. 1/4 of the seeds each weekend in Jan. and put them into warm closet. I began changing the peroxide solution every 3-5 days once they were in the closet.

A couple weeks ago I began cycling those that had not germinated between warm closet & fridge. I get a few more germinations each time they come out of the fridge but it has slowed down again so I'm leaving them in the fridge longer now.

Those that have germinated are doing fabulous. Wish I had room to reduce the number planted per cup as I think they are doing well enough this year that I may need to transplant to give them room before the weather is ready for them to go outside.

My oldest seedlings are 12 weeks old. The first and second trays in my grow light rack are now full. I'm still adding cups to the third tray. I too have an unusually large # of seeds that haven't as yet germinated. Seems like one or two seeds of any given cross just refuse to sprout. I'm about to give them all a 2nd hair cut as they are back to tangeling up around and through the lights. I have some seedlings that are now as thick as my index finger, and all seem to be growing very fast. Below are a couple pics taken today.

Linda

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{{gwi:653857}}

Linda, Bruce,
Looks like both of you start your seedlings at the end of Nov or early Dec.

When does Ma Nature let you plant them out? Do you wait for last killing frost date?

Our last frost isn't until May 15 but I can hope to plant things out around May 1 and "usually" don't get a hard freeze that late but I may need to cover their heads a time or two. Last year we had our last one (22 deg) during the last week of April.

I've been leary of planting before Jan for fear that I couldn't keep anything alive that long growing indoors here due to extremely dry climate. But since discovering moisture crystals my indoor starts are doing better in the survival department.

Linda,

They are looking happy and robust. I keep saying I'll try 5-6 seeds a cup, but still haven't done so. There's always next year!

berrytea4me,

We start soaking ours the 3rd week of Nov. hoping to plant germinated seeds the end of Nov. through Mid-Dec. Then there are always 30 or so planted into Jan.

Don't be afraid of older seedlings indoors. They are stronger than you think! We try to get ours planted outdoors Mid-April. They get temps down to 30F at night, but seem unfazed.

Cheers
Bruce and Tanya

berrytea4me: Thanks for the confirmation on the seeds.
I did notice that more times than not, the ones that are floating were germinating (showing the white radical/nub) than the sinkers.

I'm finding that the seeds for Ed Brown X JT Davis are not germinating and its been 3 weeks already.
Blue Voodoo X Edge Of Heaven is the same thing. No germination yet.
Any suggestions?

Julia

Julia,
If it's been 3 weeks you have dormant seed type. That's what I'm struggling with. Dormant seeds can show up just a few in a cross or a whole cross can have it.

The experts who have actually conducted scientifically controlled experiments say that the best method is to stratify them (wet+cold) in the fridge for about 6 wks but that some seeds need more time in cold. They also say that using plain water instead of 10% peroxide can inhibit germination.

I had some seeds from last year germinate after 11 months in the fridge & another cross where the first germination was after 8 months.

I suspect there may be other triggers that break dormancy in SOME of the seeds but have not controlled my experiments enough to prove it. Certainly many seeds have no dormancy tendency at all and germinate right away w/o stratification. There seems to be no way to tell which seeds are dormant or not just as there is no way to tell if they are viable or will rot.

Following the first flush of germinating non-dormant seeds, then the the flush of those where the 6 wk stratification worked, I had some success getting more germinations by changing the 10% peroxide solution. Something about the airation of the bubbles seems to stimulate germination on some seeds. I change the solution every 3 days.

I also have had some success getting more germinations by cycling the remaining seeds between fridge & room temp. If they respond to this it only takes a few hours or overnight to get fully chilled then a day of room temp to germinate. If they are going to germinate it will be on the warmup part of this cycle. I do this for a couple weeks then anything left ungerminated goes back into the fridge for a couple weeks before coming out again.

This is all just experiments and, like I said, I have not controlled them precisely.

Good luck.

Bruce & Tanya and/or Linda - do you get first year bloom by starting so early?

We'll start getting blooms mid/end of August with bloom until mother nature puts a stop to it. We get over 50% bloom the first year if we get them growing before January.

It's about the same here at our place as it is there with Bruce and Tanya. If seedlings get started in Nov/Dec and are planted outdoors early enough (before the end of June), we do get a lot of first year bloom from our seedlings. They will begin to bloom in mid August and continue until the heavy frosts begin to occur.

Linda

I'm a zone or two colder than both of you. In addition I currently have some space constraints so keeping seedlings going for that length of time is not doable. However if I ever get the darn kids to move out their bedrooms are MINE!

It should only take me a day to two to pull out the carpets (they're getting pretty ratty anyway) and put in some lights and shelves. Oh happy day! :)

So here is an update on my experience so far....

Siloam Little Girl X Unknown : 11 out of 27 seeds have shown fans (no albinos) so far and are developing nicely.

Beam Me Up X Victorian Lace: Presoaked, planted seeds in individual cups when germinated with white radical/nub showing. 3 out of 4 seeds had germinated but only 1 has shown any green emerging. 1 still soaking. Will give up on this one shortly, I think....

Blue Voodoo X Edge of Heaven still no germination from presoaking. Back in the refrig wrapped in a damp coffee filter to see if that will break the dormancy.

50 hybrid seeds (parents are all unknown)planted in a plastic shoe box. No presoaking the seeds. 95% have germinated so far and green fans are showing. Doing okay. So far this has been the quickest method of starting seeds. No albinos so far.
Put remaining seeds (had more than 50 in bag)into a cup for presoaking and planted in cups when germinated. Some that were planted have emerged others are still not showing any green.

Ed Brown X J.T.Davis. nothing germinated from presoaking so back in the refrig in damp coffee filter to break the seed dormancy...I hope.

Joan Senior X Indy Star Dust: Two weeks ago started 9 seeds on the rocks method. 1 germinated ie white radical/nub showing. Still waiting on others. Not sure if seed issue as I would have expected alot more to have germinated by now.

For me, the shoebox method seems to be the best so far for growing seeds.
No presoaking, mix the water with the promix, plant the seeds, put the lid on and give it a warm spot for the bottom heat. When fans reach top of box, either use plastic bag or place another plastic shoe box on top to create greenhouse effect and continue growing. These are in a south facing window (actually they sit in front of french doors so they get maximum sunlight - when the sun is out :-).)

Will wait to see how the On The Rocks methods works out over the next couple of weeks.

Julia

Julia,

FWIW We put our little ketchup cups on top of the light hood for the 125 gal. Saltwater aquarium. It's like having them on a seedling heat mat.

Bruce and Tanya

Ok, I have a question about lighting. I just started using new lighting, and I want to be sure I am doing ok.

Bruce & Tanya, it looks like you are using the same 6500k "daylight" bulbs I am, so that makes me feel good.

I have a very small operation going (but it still does look like some alien hatching project!!). I have 23w (100w equivalent) CFL bulbs with the 6500k "daylight" output of 1600 lumens. I use one twist bulb in a relflector clamp for 6 - 12 plants. Basically I put the plants inside boxes that I lined with foil to try and get reflective properties (aka more light). Will this be enough light for them until they can go outside?

I have read that the "daylight" 6500k range bulbs put out enough of the blue light that plants need...but the only information I could find about this online was in the marijuana growing forums!! LOL :o)

{{gwi:653859}}

These babies are 2-5 days old...

fairysoapgirl,

That will probably be enough light to keep them surviving, but not enough to thrive. I'm no expert, but it seems the plants have to be along in growth enough to bloom. It's not the age of the plant, but the maturity of it if that makes sense. GRIN

We do use 6500k bulbs. We used simple cheap 4 ft. fixtures from Home Depot. They were $9 with an electronic ballast which makes the bulbs last longer. The bulbs were bought in contractor packs and close to $3 each.

The more light the better that's why I have as much light as possible. I've learned about lighting from as you posted on the pot growers websites and from having Saltwater aquariums.

In our setup we have four 4ft. - 2 tube fixtures for 24 inches of bench width. The article below states 1 fixture for 8 inches in a bright sunroom, but believe me the more light the happier they are.

From here:

http://www.garden.org/foodguide/browse/herb/unusual/1338

Growing Herbs Under Lights
by National Gardening Association Editors

Even with a bright sunroom, sun-loving herbs will need 12 to 16 hours a day of supplemental light. You have two choices: fluorescent or high-intensity discharge (HID).

The brightness of a light is measured in either lumens or foot candles. Lumens refers to the amount of light at the source, foot candles to the amount of light falling on a given area. As you move farther away from a light, the lumens stay the same, but the foot candles decrease. For perspective, a typical bright but overcast day is about 1,000 foot candles, and a bright summer day at noon is about 10,000 foot candles.

Fluorescent Lights
Home gardeners have used fluorescent lights for starting seeds and growing plants for many years. Because their light intensity is low, they are best for seedlings and low-growing herbs so that even the lowest leaves are no more than 8 inches from the tube. A standard 4-foot unit with two 40-watt tubes will light an area about 8 inches wide. A variety of special tubes for growing plants are available, but a combination of standard cool- and warm-white tubes is also effective. Verilux tubes approximate the color of natural light and cost about $10 each. Vita-Lite "power twist" tubes produce somewhat more light per watt, and the quality of light is balanced for optimum plant growth, but they cost about $18 each.

Fluorescent lights at 6 inches provide 700 foot candles, and at 12 inches the light drops to 450 foot candles. Fluorescent efficiency, 60 to 80 lumens per watt, though superior to that of standard incandescent, is far below that of HID lamps. Cost is $30 to $60 for the fixture and tubes, and about $2 to $4 per month for electricity

Best,
Bruce

Bruce,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write all that out! I'd like my plants as "mature" as possible (like my men). *wink*

On your bulbs, can you tell me what wattage you use? I couldn't believe that you could fit four ballasts in two feet, but there it is in your picture. You must run a very tight ship! :o)

Right now, the light is about 3" from the seedlings, so the foot candles are pretty high.

Do you think this is right via the math in that article:

if 40watt unit = 8" wide coverage, then
100watt unit = 20" wide coverage

40watts/8" = 5"/watt

100w/5 = 20"??

I've also read that CFL's offer more concentrated light vs. linear fluorescent tubes... all so confusing. :o) I did find a light output comparison chart:

{{gwi:653860}}

The high-tech pot growers have switched to LED lights. A higher front-end cost but really cheap to run. The cost savings on utilities will more than cover the original expense in a very short period of time.

Marianne

Here is a link that might be useful: LED grow lights

Hi Marianne,
I have seen some info on the newer LED lights, but I am just starting out, and can't really justify the costs at this point in time. They do look wonderful - low heat, high output, directed ranges and spectrums. Maybe someday...

I'm using my windows right now and I have a couple T5 for the plants that were struggling with the reduced daylight hours currently available. I haven't started seeds intentionally yet - just potting up the sprouted seeds as they arrive in the mail. The real seed starting will begin on the 14th I think.

We have a few 'personal use' pot growers in our area. If their houses were ever broken into and the plants were missing they wouldn't know who to suspect. However, if the only thing missing were their LEDs they'd be banging on my door in a hurry. :)

Okay, Hope its alright I decided to use this thread.
I see it was started end of January.

TOday, I started my seeds. After reading all of the
do's and dont's I hope I get it right.

Last September, I directly sowed some DL seeds in the
ground with no success.

I saved one package of 6 seeds Janice Brown x Lavender
Stardust.
Following the directions given here, I made the 1/2 gal
water to 6 TBS Peroxide. I put them into a plastic
container and just covered the seeds [I could find no
clear cut directions on how to do this].

So my seeds are soaking now. I understand, I will have
to change the water daily, and add new H20 and Perxoide.

Anything else I should know or be doing??

Thanks in Advance,
Mary
z 5b KS

Bruce and Tanya: Thanks. I will try placing the container on a low heat source to see if more will germinate. I was under the impression that no bottom heat source was needed doing the "On The Rocks" method but maybe I missed that part when reading the directions.

Mary: I have done the presoaking and have found that each day I needed to check to see if the white radical/nub had emerged from the seed. I changed the water solution every 3 days. I was advised, once it emerges, to plant right away as the peroxide solution could burn the nub. Also I was given some advice to plant the seed, once it germinates, sideways in the planting mix. I have planted with the nub down and also sideways and no difference so far as to how quickly the green fan starts to appear. Maybe others on this forum can provide some feedback on their planting method.
Good luck.

Julia

Julia,
Thank you for the tip. I will look and change the
water every three days.
I only have six seeds, so hopefully I will get
germination out of part of them!

Can anyone tell me what kind of temps I should
hold my seedlings at.

I do have a problem, that I have cats, and the
smell of dirt often beckons them to places
they should not be!!

Mary
z 5b KS

Mary, Had to chuckle about your statement about the cats. We have indoor cats and if my grow racks weren't screened I wouldn't have any seedlings. My cats would eat them all. Daylily salad is high on their list of favorite foods.

Linda

Mary,
I don't think there is a right or wrong way of starting daylily seeds. Folks just seem to develop the regime that works the best for them.
Give the sprouted seedlings as much light as you can get and keep them moist after they get a little size to them.
If you get fungus knats, read all the advise that you can find and try all of it. Something should work.
Plant the seedlings outside when your weather warms up enough to avoid frost.
Enjoy your blooms in a year or so.
They are one of the easiest flowers to hybridize and grow from seed. You loose a few seedlings along the way (and a few seeds won't germinate), but the ones that survive should be great plants for your area.
If you have cats, they will like to dig in your potting soil and eat your seedlings, so try to keep them away. (At least my cats dig in mine and eat the tender leaves if given the chance.)
Have fun!

Beth

Linda,
I hope someday to have a room in my basement where I
can actually set up a place for lights & seedlings.
I found a new way to save my seeds & potting mix
from the hairy little monsters.

I will see in a few weeks if it will work.

I have an old 75 ford crew cab, that is just sitting
by my garage, in need of a battery.
So I spent Thursday potting up all of my seeds [not daylily]
into pots and set them in my makeshift greenhouse.

It heats up with the sun, cools down with a cracked
window and is cat free. I am calling my it my
Redneck Greenhouse! lol

Beth,
I figured that direct planting the way nature intened
the seeds to survive would be the best way to start
my daylily seeds. I didn't have one seed germinate.

Then having read & read on these forums about soaking
and using peroxide and refrigerating them! It scares
me! But since I am new to this and have all kinds of
conflicting reports about either it is easy or
don't even bother trying, its for professionals!
I want to throw in the towel.

As a newbie, I have no regimine to go by. And I have
had no success yet. But I hope that if I can get
at least one or two seeds to germinate. That will
give me a glimmer of hope.

Mary
z 5b KS

Another update...

Siloam Little Girl X Unknown : 13 out of 27 seeds have shown fans still all doing okay.

Beam Me Up X Victorian Lace: Presoaked, planted seeds in individual cups when germinated with white radical/nub showing. Only 1 out of 4 seeds actually showed any green emerging. This one seed that is growing is going real slow. Slowest I've seen from all the crosses so far.

50 hybrid seeds germination up to 98%. Yippee

Ed Brown X J.T.Davis, Blue Voodoo X Edge of Heaven still no germination from refrig process. Decided to go ahead and plant in mix along with several other crosses that I had left over. These were planted in a plastic sweater box which is deeper and slightly longer than shoe box. Hopefully going to see results next week. Perhaps on the first day of spring ;-).

Joan Senior X Indy Star Dust:Gave up on the "On The Rocks Method" after only 3 out of 9 seeds germinated(sorry guys but its taking too long) and went ahead and planted the remaining 6 in the sweater box.

Surprise for me on this whole process was 1 out of 3 seeds I had of Siloam Sugar Time X Unknown germinated while soaking in peroxide solution. Planted it in a cup and it is growing okay. The other 2 ended up being too soft.

Julia

I may have germination. Little tiny white tip on the
end of a few of my seeds. However, they are very tiny
not like in some of the pictures I have seen of
germinated seeds.

I dumped out the peroxide water & added plain water, and
they are still in the fridge.

What to do next........

Mary

When ours show germination we plant them. They now need to have oxygen or they will die.

Thanks Lilynut,

I guess I will put them into some
potting soil and see what happens next.

Wish me luck!

Mary

Mary: Are you using potting soil or a lighter weight mix?

Julia

How long does it usually take for the seeds to germinate? I am trying an aero garden with an insert and did not soak them, but the starter medium is moist and the seeds are being kept moist. Good lighting (grow lights) It's been exactly one week today--no mold, but no obvious sign yet of germination.

I'm new at this my seeds pods just open i put in the frige i live them in for 3 weeks so can i just plant after 3 weeks.Or do i have to soak them,i don't know anything about soaking

I started some seeds for the first time.
I didn't soak, just popped them into a peat pellet. Made sure they were moist and left them on a windowsill.
I got 2 sprouts fairly quickly, then 1 more a month later. I was going to chuck the rest but just kept peat moist. 2 months later I got 4 more sprouts! Weird. If they were tomatoes, they'd have been chucked out a long time ago!
The soaking and peroxide does seem a little intimidating, but I might try it to get better/quicker germination rates.

I'm already hardening off my seedlings, and planted a few. They don't mind -4C at night!

mitanoff: Soaking doesn't always get them germinating faster. I have some crosses that germinated quickly and others that are still sitting and soaking. I also find that some of the seeds of the same cross will germinate over a few days and then 1 or 2 will take a week before I can finish potting them.
Could it be the cross and not the method? Maybe.

Uroboros: How are you able to dig and plant outside? Our ground is softening up (aka muck weather) but I'm sure if I dug down a few inches it would be still frozen.

I planted twelve seeds in jiffy sevens on 21 Feb, two germinated in two weeks, (Mar 7) and one today.Don't know if or when the others will show! They were H rosea, Nesmith selection X another rosea I can never identify, it may be Charmaine Queen as the picture on Tinkers looks like a match. I have had some luck planting outside in Oct or Nov, will see what happens this year as I planted minor, middendorphs, Lemon Lily, rosea, and some unknowns in Nov---------Weedy

On one of the Yahoo groups i asked if daylily seeds need to be per-soaked before planting and many sources told me that it makes no difference because some seeds take longer to germinate anyhow. Germination should begin 7-10 days. I had some seeds germinate in 6 days and and others took as long as 2 weeks or more. If daylily seeds dont germinate in 4 weeks or earlier their probably duds or they are showing dormancy and need to be stratified ahead of time. Daylily seeds germinate best at 55° to 65°F.

I planted my daylily seeds 3.5 - 4 weeks ago. I used Melanie Mason shoe box method.. The seeds were not pre treated just planted straight into the soil. I planted 17 boxes of about 40+ seeds per box. Just over half of the seeds germinated. For the first two weeks i was using a shop light because the sun was hardly out, but now I'm taking advantage of the sun in a south facing window.

I have alot of seeds to plant, some sitting in the fridge since 2005. I tried the rocks method with about 15 ketchup cups, the rest I soaked in the hydrogen peroide solution right in their plastic baggies, have been changing the water every 3 days. I am amazed at the numbers that are germinating. Some radicles/nubs started showing within 24 hours! Many look like they are plumping up [the older ones]. I am starting to plant now, and will do lots of planting this weekend. I have never tried the peroxide method before, just always soaked them in warm water and a bit of ivory liquid and always got some to germinate. The shoebox method would probably be easier, but it seems that presoaking would help germination, and it sure seems to be working.

Do you poke holes in the shoebox/sweater box or just keep the soil damp and top mist it? If no holes are poked, it would seem the soil could sour and the seeds rot....would enjoy hearing more about this.

Would also enjoy seeing photos of any seedlings growing and grow methods.
Judith