Amaryllis Seeds

I hope I'm on the right forum... but if I'm not, I'm sure someone will straighten me out LOL!

I collected amaryllis seeds this year (Feb/March timeframe) and I am just now trying to get some to sprout. I've put them on a papertowel with a papertowel over them and all that is in a plastic covered dish. I keep them moist with water and hydrogen peroxide mixture. They've been in the dish for about 2 weeks and nothing yet. The "seed" inside the papery pod seems to have gotten larger on some of them but nothing has sprouted yet.

Do these normally take a long time to sprout??

I don't have a germination time, but I think I would be encouraged by what you are seeing. The info I have is to sow immediately after havesting the seed and to keep cool, about 61 degrees, until germinated.

You might try the Bulb forum for more info or try to Google for Amaryllis culture.

They don't take a long time to sprout, 3 weeks or so. They do fatten up first as they take on water. The first time I sprouted them I was floating them on peroxide water. The next time I just planted them like my other seeds in soilless seed starting mix. Right now I have 2 teeny bulblets going...

Cool... thanks beaker and pard! I'm a little impatient but I'm gonna stick with these. I put the dish on top of my fridge thinking it would get a little warming action going but it doesn't seem to be the case. Oh well,,, I'll be a little more patient. I really don't NEED anymore amaryllis but really wanted to see if I could do this!!

I tried it, too, but like LA I saved the seeds from February and now know they should be planted immediately. I used the damp paper towel in a sealed plastic bag method and got larger seeds but no sprouts. Someone suggested heat so I put them down on the hot water heater. Nothing to lose at this point.

Next time I'll try to do it the right way!

I've been reading that a litttle H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) in water (soak overnight up to 24 hours) will help in germinating older seeds or maybe just give it more time. I've heard that some of the large flowered clematis take a year or 2 to germinate, but I think they do germinate faster if sowed immediately after harvesting.

Well, I ordered my seeds from JL Hudson's and I am sure they weren't exactly freshly harvested. Still, I think I got around 50% germination. Of course I managed to kill them since. That's pretty normal for me. I really recommend floating them in water in a clear glass with a splash of H2O2 which will help keep them afloat as well as help keep mold at bay. The nice thing about this method is you will quickly see the white sprout coming out of the black seed, then you can plant them. I came across this method on the amaryllis forum on Gweb.

I think you always need to consider that if they don't germinate in a reasonable time then they may just be chaff instead of seed.

Here is a pic I just took of my 2 seedlings. These are the ones that were planted directly in the starting mix.

OH MY GOSH!!! I think I have germination!!!!!!!!!!!! There's a little sprout coming out of the bottom of one of the seeds. I'm going to try to take a pic and post it here. I'm not quite sure which way is up or down on that sprout... it came out of the bottom of the seed (the side that is down in the dish).

Here we go...

Oops, gotta include the pic!

And here's another

Now, how do I plant these????? Just lay them on top of soil?

Did you use heat or light or a combination of both to get them to germinate and how fresh were the seeds?

GOOD JOB!

Pirl -

I did not use heat or light. I did place the dish on top of the fridge, but it really wasn't producing any heat like I thought it would. The seeds were approx 9 months old.

Hurray! I'd tell you how to plant them if I knew how but I don't. I'm sure pardalinum can tell you how deep she planted the seeds in the soilless mix. Good luck! I'm "rooting" for you.

Pirl - LOL... thanks!

I don't know how deep they are SUPPOSED to be planted-- I just sprinkled about a quarter inch of mix over them and that seemed to work. Good luck and report back!

Pard - Did you use anything special for soil or just a store bought potting mix??

I always prefer a soilless seed starting mix for germinating seeds. I will need to move these to a better potting mix but for now I am feeding diluted Miracle grow.

I have seedling several different ages that I started this year. I had nearly 100% germination. I used the paper towel peroxide water zip bag method. I have since learned that if you use coffee filter the sprout does not imbed itself. I used no heat other than putting them on top of fridge and leaving them to germinate.
I made a hole in the soil with a pencil and carefully placed my seed then lightly covered with soil. I place a elastic baggie over the pot to create a green house effect. These seedlings are about 4 months old and I still keep the baggie over the pot so it won't dry out. So far So good.
I forgot to say I did not know the age of my seeds got them in a trade. Ladyborg has seed and would probably trade for something nice or she was on ebay at one time for purchase I don't know if she still is. Grandma Moses Amaryllis seed. Wonderful Lady. Her seeds are from her husbands grandmothers heirloom bulbs. you might dmail her. Cindy


This message was edited Dec 19, 2006 3:46 PM

Cindy - Thanks for the input... love your seedlings! I believe I have some of Ladyborgs amaryllis seeds... met up with her on the NHGC website! :-)