you prob left them in the water too long. as soon as my seeds developed roots about 1/4 inch i placed them on wet/loose soil mix.

i use hydrogen peroxide in my water, didnt have any problems.

Hi Mike,

No expert here, and I'm sure there are many that approach this with a more scientific attitude but.......in my experience, seeds that sink to the bottom with roots are fine.....sometimes I plant them when the roots are about 1/2 to 5/8 inches long without leaves and the leaves come up with no problem. I find if the seeds haven't shown some sign of root development by a couple weeks, they probably won't germinate. I've had several batches go mushy on me and have had to throw them away. Others seem to show signs of germination in about 10 days, and I have some now, one of my Papilio crosses that literally germinated in about 5 days! The other Papilio cross that was soaked about a week earlier and still soaking is doing nothing!! I think they are turning to mush!! Each batch of seeds seems to have it's own time table just like the blooming of the bulbs! I've never had any rust/fungus on my seeds, as I change the water about every 4/5 days. I guess I'd throw those away. I also, every now and again, have a little root/bulb show some signs of red and I guess I should have removed them, but I didn't.....otherwise they seemed fine, and I planted them and now I'll never know. As far as fertilizing, when the leaf or leaves are about 2" long, I use a weak miracle grow foliar spray occasionally (about every 3/4 times I water) until the leaves grow another inch or so and then,still using the very weak concentration of miracle grow, just feed them regularly. I always use a weak solution on my seedling, even when they get much bigger, just more often. I don't use the slow release pellets until they are really established.
We've all got our own routines and eventually find out what works best for each of us, and some seedling are just stronger than other, it is kind of a crap-shoot......... Good Luck and have fun!!

Donna

Thanks to both of you.

MikeP

Mike, I see that you are in zone 9B Orlando. Down here in Florida, there is no need to germinate in water. You can start your seeds directly in soil. You will see various websites with instructions telling you to lay seeds on top of the soil, uncovered. I don't buy that. I start them in cell-packs and always cover my seeds with about 1/4 inch of soil. I get an extremely high germination rate with fresh seeds. They do much better covered (and birds are not nearly as likely to pluck them up.) If you start them in soil, you eliminate the work of transplanting them to soil and the possibility of root breakage. They have a roaring start, right from the get-go. I put the cell-packs in full sun and water them whenever the surface appears dry - just about every other day in hot summer or early fall months.

See the link below for the seeds I planted in August of last year. I'll get some updated photos tomorrow. They look like 2nd-year bulbs already! I grow all of my amaryllis outside in the ground (not pots) and leave them in the ground year-round. I never lift them except if I want to move them. Every single one survived the freeze in January - the hardest and longest freeze in Jacksonville in about 20 years. I have over 200 bulbs, almost all from seeds - only a few starter bulbs were purchased - and have only lost one bulb in about ten years. The Florida warmth and sunshine just cannot be beat.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Amaryllis Seedlings

Also - use any old kind of potting soil you want for germinatation. If you will be putting them in the ground anyway, it doesn't matter in what you germinate them.

Here in Florida, starting and growing amaryllis is really a no-brainer because it is so darn easy.

Carol - Your seedlings do look great. I'm anxious to see some current pictures.

I didn't have good luck the last time I tried starting hybrid seeds outdoors in flats in direct sunshine (uncovered) in the fall, probably because I covered them with a humidity dome. I'm certain I roasted them; another Florida grower suggested that was probably the case. In fact, he said he starts his in dense shade.

I started mine indoors, in water so I could observe them germinating and I was trying to be very careful since the seeds are from hipp species (hard for me to obtain), including several crosses of the species. I don't know if the species are any different from the hybrids. I don't think I lost many in transplanting.

I have another batch of the same seeds to start and I might try your method. I also have some hybrid seeds to experiment with and I will definitely try your method with those. I'm going to start the hybrid seeds in soil/flats and put the flats on the front porch and see what happens.

Thanks
MikeP

Carol -

RE: "in direct sunshine (uncovered) in the fall,"

Just to clarify, I meant uncovered by a roof of some sort. As I said, I did cover them with a humidity dome.

Mike,

Below is a link to a post I made right after I planted them. You can see that they are on a screened-in porch. The screen side faces due West and gets full sun all afternoon long. (It is in shade in the morning.)

I planted two seeds per cell and as you can see, I got close to 100% germination. I do NOT buy into the "lay the seeds on top of the soil" stuff. It just provides opportunity for the seeds to blow away or float when you water. I definitely believe in covering them completely with a very small layer of soil - around 1/4 inch - basically to anchor them in place and to let 'em know, "Hey! You're planted! So get growin'!" :)

I will post updated photos shortly. Link below from when originally planted (with photos).

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Amaryllis Seedlings

Mike, these photos were taken about 15 minutes ago. The seeds were started on August 29, 2009, so the plants are about 8 1/2 months old. These are ready to be planted into the ground. I am in the process of creating a new bed for them. It will be fun to see what sort of flowers I get. These are all crosses from different varieties of pink. I just love pink.

Carol

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I measured the leaves. The average leaf length is around 10 inches from soil to leaf tip. Some are shorter and some are over a foot long.

Good golly miss molly, I think Florida could beat the record of 350 +/- days from seed to flower posted here every once in awhile. (I don't remember the exact number of days but will someone please repost it?) Seasons/weather would have a significant impact of whether or not it could be done. Also, how quickly you get the fresh seed (around May 1 is the earliest I would have fresh seed), how quickly you get it in the ground (May 2?) and what the weather conditions are like during the fall, winter and next spring. But I think it could be possible. Maybe that record is just for amaryllis grown indoors or in a pot? Would outside in the ground count? And I assume fertilizer is allowed?! I may have to go for it, just to try.

Carol

I found the link - the time to beat is Laurier's record of 363 days! That is pretty tough one. I'll give it a try next spring.

See link to his post below.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: A quick update...

Great pictures - they look good. Thanks.

You sound fired up about this record! Go for it!

Mike/Orlando