day lilies germinating - now what?

Well, I had these in a damp coffee filter in the fridge for about 2 months - and I was worried they would mold - so I put them in a new one, and this time I left them on the top of a radiator - now they are germinating - which is good - but I am not sure of my next step - how big a pot should I put them in . . . what temperature? Any ideas?

Congrats on your new babies! : ) Exciting isn't it!

There alot of folks who do have different ways.

You need to get them potted up fairly quick because the seed coat will only hold enough food to sustain the plant for 7 to ten days.

depending on how much room you have or what you have handy, you can to a couple of things. If you don't have to many seedlings, you can get a 6in pot fil it wil sterile potting soil and place your babies in it. This works ok if you have all the same crosses.

Lots of folks use 20 inch platic cups or styrofoam cups and poke holes in the bottom. If you have one of them big two pronge d meat forks. The kind that ya use to like help like a roast of the pan, you cna heat its tongs and poke hole s that way fairly easily. Make sure you have big enough holes and enough holes.

I use 4 and 1/2" pots by about the same to five inches. I have those and it works easier for me.

You want them to to stay at least between 68F to about 75F if you can get those temps and they need 14 to 16 hours of sunlight.

Just make sure you don't plant them to deep or you may lose them. Take your pot and your soil and just wet it, so that about the top inch or so is moist, pkoe a tiny hole and put you seedling inand gently squueze the soil around your seedling to hold it in place. I always hold mine by the leaf or leaves when transplanting and pinch the soil around it that way the crown doesn't get buried to deep and cause crown rot.

You have a new seedling with just a couple roots, or maybe even just one root and a big pot. Starting mine off, I generally just mist mine good, I don't worry about watering so that water come s out the bottom cuz the roots aren't that deep and that just leaves a bunch of moist soil sitting there at the bottom.

If you have fertilizer in your soil mix, don't feed them. I genrally don't start feeding for at least a month to ensure that the root s don't get a fertilizer burn then when I do I start fertilizing I use a very weak solution of miracle grow and alternate it with watering of regular water so that salts don't build up in the soil.

Some daylily seedlings are funny or funky. They may start out growing and then disappear on ya. Some disappear cuz they are weak, diseased , or maybe just incompatable crosses. But some disappear, becaus e they dormant gene s in them and if they get chilled or too confused they think it winter and even with only a leaf or two may disaapear on ya. Ones that disappear I leave alone for at least a month, then i wil gently stick a finger down and see if I feel any roots at all before disgarding it.

Just don't overwater them. Daylilies are a very tough plant. They take a lot of punishment and while a well established Daylily can live in water alone for years, a seedling, especially a new baby will croak on ya til the crown hardens up.

Good luck on your new little ones! : )

Thanks starlight1153 :-). These seeds are not the result of my efforts - but came from a dear DG friend. I have no idea what the plants will eventually look like - so there is a real "surprise" element here. Almost impossible to keep temperatures as warm as you are suggesting, but I may be able to provide the light with a grow light :-) So I suppose that any seedlings that make it, are going to be tough little guys! How do they ever germinate in the wild?

Anyway, thanks for your suggestions - I have LOTS of 20 ounce plastic cups so I will use those for now. If these do grow, they need a lot of room for roots before I can plant them out five months from now lol

When should I have started them? - so I will know for next time lol

I don't grow daylilies so I don't know what'll happen if you aren't able to get the temperatures that were suggested, but you really ought to get a light for them. It doesn't have to be a fancy expensive grow light, you can buy a cheap fluorescent shop light from Home Depot and use that. Seedlings need to have a lot of light (when I'm starting seeds, I have my lights on a timer so they're on for ~16 hours a day), and the light needs to be just a few inches above the seedlings so they don't get leggy.

Okay - I'll get right to it. Thanks ecrane3 :-)

Your up there in some really cold weather so I am not sure when you would really start them off for your zone. I know I have left seedlings in the 20 oz cups for 8 months sometimes before I got them transplanted.

A few friends that I have that grow up in the North will start their seed sometimes immediately and sometimes they chill the seed for three weeks before sowing outside.

There may be somebody over on the Daylily Forum that up in your area that would have better advice for when they start their seeds to help ya along. Ya might ask over there.

If ya can't keep em that warm do the very best ya can. Keep them at least above 60F to keep the roots growing even if the tops grow slow which some may. it all depends on the gene s they got.

If you can, you might want to clear a space for them on top of your refrigerator - they generally stay pretty warm up there.

Well, the daylilies are in the basement with florescent lights on a 16 hours a day about 6 inches above them. The basement is maybe 55 degrees - so I will have to invest in a heat pad :-)

That's not the best, but it something and the light s wil give of f some heat too. I's move the lights down about 2 inches if you can unless the foliage is up that high.

With the cooler temps, you won't have to water as much. try and stay closer to the dryer side, with the lower temps the soil wil stay damp alot longer.

befoe you invest in a heating mat unles s you have alot of other flowers to do, I would just give it a few days and then stick a themometor down in the soil and takes the temp of it. The air around may be at 55F but with the light s yoru soil could be alot warmer and ya don't want to toast yoru new babies. : )

If you can lower the lights even more, I'd keep them no more than one to two inches above the plants. :)