Hi Amaryll, Yes, I just like to get as much info as possible before doing the expt. so to speak....comes with the training I suppose. I also realize that if someone from zone 9 is giving me advice on how to grow one of my plants I should take it with a container of salt!! I find Hippeastrum to be one of the worlds easiest plants to grow, but I've not bothered to deal with seed before and I know that Hans-Werner has been working with seed for a long time and so I always appreciate his and anyone elses advice. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope they just muddle through the winter and then I'll put them outside next summer of course. It is amazing how much larger and thinner the aulicum and calytratum seedlings are than the striatum and psittacinum. It's sort of fun so far. Unfortuantely all of my grow lights have more important plants under them so these will have to deal with southern exposure window light. Thanks again :o) Dan

I think the key to raising healthy seedlings lies in observing them closely to make sure they are kept in optimal conditions... proper watering, root space, enough light, a well-draining medium... and making sure they are fed. Yes, Java... this will be my first year of growing hippeastrums from seed... but I'm an old hand at gardening in general, and have been growing some type of plant or other since I can remember! At one point in my life, I had well over 200 house plants in a small cape cod home! Half of those were moved into that small home from a one bedroom apartment! I've had my oldest hippeastrum bulb, a Minerva, going on 8 years or more... but I just recently became completely addicted to collecting, growing and breeding these bulbs! It's funny... for most of the time I've had my Minerva, I sort of neglected the poor thing... and she's been the most wonderful plant I've ever had! She blooms almost every year without fail, and this past winter, she grew a baby! Anyway... I was thinking along the lines of orchid pots for young bulbs... they tend to be tall and narrow, and have slits, which would allow the roots to "breathe"... it's just a thought, but I might experiment with a few. The clear, taller cymbidium pots would be worth checking out! I just planted a flat of hippeastrum seeds last night... I've got a 72 cell flat planted with rows of 6 seeds, each in a cell, the rows running across the flat... if you know what I mean. Planted are: 2 rows of Prelude x Self 1 row of San Remo x Self 1 row of Happiness x Candy Floss 1 row of Minerva x Self 1 row of Limona x Picotee 1 row of Charisma x Self 1 row of Limona x Self 1 row of Vivaldi x Self 1 row of Delphinium "Green Twist" - a gift from Lizalily! 1 row of Exotic Star 1 row of Lovely Garden If these do well, I'll plant more... I just want to be sure germination takes place, and one flat will be a good test. The medium I used is just plain old MiracleGro potting soil mixed with quite a bit of sand. I've got the flat covered with a little plastic greenhouse cover, and since it's been a bit chilly, I've got it indoors on a heat mat. Once I see a sprout, I'll move the flat outside to grow in the sun, along with all my other flats of annual and perennial seeds. I had very good luck germinating hippeastrum seeds by floating them in water, but once I transplanted them, they went downhill and all expired. I think it may have been due to the poor indoor propagation area I have... the ambient temperature fluctuates over winter, humidity is low, and my grow lights are cheap! After losing the dozen or so seedlings I started over winter, I decided to wait until spring to start again. This is a much better time of year for seeds to germinate and grow, and I can do it all outdoors in the natural elements of sun and fresh air. I think this time I will be successful.

Maybe we can repost this with a note NOT to reply that way it stays at the top? Is there a way we can sticky this?

Greetings from Germany,and thank you so much for your almost instant feedback, and for your appreciation. At first and generally, I suggest that we should discontinue the era of "Sir" now - as nice as it was, it was disturbing to another garden friend though. So, I apppreciate to be Hans-Werner (pronunciation: [HunsVairnair] My suggestion and "promise" is actually based on EXPERIENCE. I forgot to mention this. Besides some kindergardens of DIP seedlings, I had even (12) seedlings of (18 of) a TET knight Star lily in blooms (=67%) after 2 years, but this was a particular case, because the parent ("PapDon1", selfpollinated) was a special, "regenerated" TET out of crossbreeding H.papilio with "Donau" iow: DIP x TET, and it was very VIGOROUS. From the few documentaries on "hippeastrum kindergartens" that I perceive them occasionally, I can conclude, that the main imperfectness, that it will considerably delay growth and maidenblooms, respectively, is sowing seeds / replanting tiny seedlings into SHALLOW containers/trays. You will accomplish the major success with pots or balcony boxes, that are 12 and more cm in height. It is crucial, to make them seedlings grow as fast as possible, FROM the very start on. Watering should be applied as "CYCLING"[namely between wet and dry] that is, RINSE thoroughly, until a lot of water drains out of the bottom holes. With a volume of lukewarm water, including dilute feeding, that equals 1/2 to 1 container/substrate volume (!) Then, let the the substrate dry until its surface will become bright again. Although this sounds trivial, I can conclude from the appearance of the substrate surface in pictures, that this measure is generally not consequently applied. I regret that my OWN breeding activities were / are largely impaired through my DEPRESSIONS. Solely to indicate this CIRCUMSTANCE that it is intended as an explanation for you, but not as an ignition for DISCUSSING this issue. Things appear to be getting a little bit better now, though ;)