Deanna, I'm not an expert, but I'll answer what I've done and hopefully someone will fill in the gaps. My first seedling will bloom for the first time mostly next year, but I got a few blooming this year, two which are really neat and somewhat unique , one that is gorgeous, but similar to other ones out theres, and others that are just fine, and I think will improve.
I kept seeds in a bit of water in the fridge for weeks. Some germinated within a week of arriving in mail, other packets literally took 2-3 months, but those seeds have very strong plants, so it as worth it.
Seeds from certain sellers almost germinated 100% and others about 70%
And the last question, I'm unsure about. I will grow some now and keep in my windowsill over the winter, and I directly planted two seeds last week, just to see what will happen.

Hi Deanna,
I too am learning about daylilies, but have grown many other plants from seed. If started in January you may get some flowers first year, but most of us in the north have to be patient and wait til year two to see the flowers. Due to our short days, you will likely need extra light to keep the inhouse plants from stretching.
With indoor space an issue, I won't be starting any seeds til March, so not likely to see flowers til next year, but I did receive seed that had already sprouted in the pkg, so planted and will see how they grow over the winter in the house.
To start seed its suggested to soak in a hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol solution to help seed break dormancy. When a little white nub appears it is time to plant in soil being careful not to squeeze the seed. Cover lightly with soil and cover container with dome to keep in humidity.
They are easy to grow once the seed has sprouted.
Here is a seedling that I started in March of 2009. First flower this year.

I think it is fun and have gotten carried away on the lily auction with almost 300 seeds to start in March.....what was I thinking!!!!!
flora

I don't think you'll gain anything by starting them now. I used to start them in the house in January and have changed that in the past couple of years to March.

Less work and they don't get so long and leggy.

It takes me 2 to 3 years to get bloom, sometimes longer if I have them planted too close together.

I haven't bought seeds off the auction, I make my own and I compost the majority of my seedlings. If I have 2 or 3 good ones out of 500 seeds, that's pretty good. But I don't want plants that look like everything else out there on the market. I want plants that have some trait/look that is different.

With regards to LA seeds, Yes, I've gotten interesting blooms from the seeds.
Germination rate is around 98% but alot has to do with the crosses I've chosen.

If your starting seeds indoors, timing is up to you. If you have adequate heat/light then anytime is okay.

How were you planning on sowing them?

If you do a search on the forum(and perhaps you have already)using search term "seed starting" or something similar, there are a couple of threads relating to seed starting and results. Could be helpful in answering some of your questions.
Here is one you may find helpful.

Julia

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Starting

In your area, I think it is too late to start seeds now. A lot depends on the facilities you have to over-winter young seedlings. Some of our forum members have areas where they can install grow-lights and shelves and successfully grow their seedlings throughout the winter.

In our climate, I've found that starting seeds here in late summer works best. The seedlings are transplanted into the garden with still enough time to grow and develop before our weather gets really cold (late Dec-February). If I lived as far north as you do, I'd start mine in early spring. Resulting seedlings would still have to be protected until all danger of frost is past.

I have bought numerous seeds from the Lily Auction with mixed results. I now have between 5-10 seedlings that look very promising. I've had some packets of seeds with excellent parents not produce anything remarkable. One purchase never did germinate, and the Seller was kind enough to send a replacement. All of the seeds in that second batch germinated.

The seeds that I do buy at the Lily Auction are primarily for hopefully obtaining the desired genes that I can use in hybridizing. I also really appreciate the seed sellers at the LA who send bonuses that are also related to those I've purchased. Having successfully raised (in the past) champion Shih Tzu dogs through line-breeding and inbreeding, I am a firm believer in that method of improving qualities in the progeny.

As for starting seeds, I do soak mine in a mixture of 1/2 gallon of distilled water and 6 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide. If I first store them in the solution in the refrigerator for two weeks, they seem to sprout faster once removed, sometimes within 2 days.

It is very important to keep your soaking seeds in complete darkness and in a warm environment until they begin to sprout. I check the soaking seeds every day and immediately plant those that have sprouted. It also helps to be able to remove any that may be beginning to rot, so they don't affect the others.

Some LA sellers' seeds have super germination rates, i.e. "Rich." He does all his hybridizing in his greenhouse.

Due to the extreme drought here in Texas this year, the seeds from my garden did not have the high germination rate that I had experienced in the years where we had sufficient rainfall. Yes, we did water frequently out of necessity, but apparently rain water has some magical property that really brings out the best in daylilies.

Once the seeds sprout, I make an oval depression with the eraser end of a pencil in the potting medium and set the seed on its side with the white root facing down, if possible. I've found by covering the seeds with fine-ground vermiculite, this enables the seeds to sprout more quickly than if I cover them with potting soil.

I prefer to use 16-oz. styrofoam cups to start my seeds, for several reasons. First, it is easy to write/read all pertinent information on the cup with a black Sharpie. Second, it is easier to poke holes in the bottom and the sides near the bottom. I used to use the plastic drink cups, but I had to heat the kitchen fork over the gas burner to get it hot enough to make a decent hole. I didn't like the time it took to do that, nor the fumes from the melting plastic.

The downside of using the styrofoam cups is that they can be tipped over easily. I solved that problem this year by putting some rocks in the bottom before filling them with potting soil. So far, I've only managed to turn over two cups -- which is a record for me.

I keep the styrofoam cups standing in water until they are transplanted to our garden. I can fit 15 cups in each large aluminum-foil roasting pan (they come in a package from Sam's Club). I cover them loosely with sandwich baggies until they begin to sprout. Once they have developed the second set of leaves, I then start adding 1/4 teaspoon of fertilizer (Schultz Expert Plant Food) to 1 gallon of water. Other similar water-soluble fertilizers should work as well.

Since I move my sprouted seedlings immediately outside to a shady area of our patio, we don't have a problem with fungus gnats. I've read here at the forum that those who grow their seedliings indoors suggest using Mosquito Dunks to solve that problem.

Several years ago I started my seeds right after harvest and they had enough growth before winter so that many were blooming by late spring. They were mostly dips at that time.

I've read with interest here at the forum about those who start their seeds on aquarium rocks in little condiment cups. I wonder if fine-ground vermiculite would be feasible, too, and will experiment with that next season. It does seem like double work, though, to start them on rocks and then have to move them to cups or pots later.

One more observation -- the seedlings that I grew in white pots grew much faster and stronger than those in black nursery pots. I found that very interesting.

I wish you best results with your recently purchased seeds.

Nancy

I start germinating my seeds on Jan 1. My process is very similar to what Nancy described. I use the aluminum baking trays, I use plastic cups (poke holes with a b-b-q skewer).
I put a teaspoon of 10% peroxide/distilled water solution in each bag of seeds in the fridge on Thanksgiving weekend. Then start pulling bags of seeds out to germinate on New Years. It usually takes me through March to germinate all because I take them out of the fridge into warm dark closet a few at a time in order to space out how many I have to plant in a given day. Germination rates just plain vary seed to seed.

Some seeds in any give pod will germinate faster than others. I only plant germinated seeds. I've had one take up to 11 months to germinate. It didn't rot so I just kept cycled it about every 3 weeks between fridge & closet until March, then finally forgot it in the fridge until I went to start germinating the next season's seeds and found it had just germinated.

My first year all of my seeds were from the auctions. The next year was a mixture and since then I've had enough to work with to make all my own seeds.

That first crop I bought about 800 seeds and lost most of them to fungus gnats. These buggers are a problem with daylilies due to the size of the seeds. The flies will lay eggs in the base of the seedling and the maggots will fill the seed eating all of the future roots of the plant. I tried several methods to get rid of them but the infestation was so severe (the eggs come in potting soil) that it was of little use. I ended up with just under 200 surviving seedlings from that crop. Now I use a premium seed starter mix which is more sterile and I stir boiling water through each cup of soil before planting. I have not seen a single gnat since I started doing this.

I have created an indoor seed starting system using a "patio greenhouse" (shelving with a plastic cover) to which I have tie-wrapped 2 grow lights under each shelf. Then I lined the outside with mylar ($.99 emergency blankets from the sporting goods store). I have the lights on 16 hour timers.

I get a few that bloom 2nd year but most don't show their stuff until 3rd year and best decision making is 4th year seedlings.

I have several seedlings from the auctions that I am watching for possible intro and many that I'm using for bridge plants to use the genetics of newer cultivars that I don't grow myself.

here are some photos of my seed starting & auction seedlings:

wow, you have some very pretty blooms, growing.

Berrytea, you have lots of pretty ones! Thanks for the advice!

Deanna

Glad you like them.
I always like to encourage people on buying seeds. Of course not everything turns out this nice. You get a lot of culls too. But I think I get more culls from using my older established plants than from purchased seeds that came from the most modern daylilies.

I think it is a real good way to bring in good genetics to your future hybridizing program at an affordable cost & time savings.

I haven't wasted a lot of money or time on parents that won't be hardy in my climate or won't produce what I'm looking for. I've been able to go back and purchase some of the parents once I saw that they produced superior offspring. By that time I was ready to back-cross some of the seedlings to those parents and the price had come down on those expensive new plants.

Good luck.

Debra