Rr,

Just remember how long it takes and the space required to grow them to blooming size! Your ideas of what you hope to be able to cross sound good and saving the pollen is often the best way to go when one has both new arrivals and older bulbs. Just remember to save the pollen in small air tight containers in the fridge - I am using microcentrafuge tube since I also collect pollen from my Daylilies (it can be frozen and used for years!)

I am hoping to use pollen collected from mt 'Little star' on both 'Ruby Meyers' and 'Chico' this season as I am more interested in creating smaller blooms on short stems and Cybister hybrids as well. I use 'Chico' as my main Cybister Hybrid foundation plant as it is closest to the specie ie:cybister. I may also use LS pollen on some of my Dutch/African varieties, but only one or two, will have to see who blooms. I might also cross 'Exotic Star' with 'Rembrandt Van Ruij' in an attempt to get more than 2 buds per stem. am very limited on space though so must use restraint.

Last year I made over 50 crosses and got seed pods from nearly 36 (know that I have 3 egg cartons with seedpods). I vowed that I would ONLY keep 10 seedlings from each cross. Just checked, and seeds are still viable. So...can grow more if I want. Currently have hundreds of seedlings, some in communal pots, others just 2/pot.

It can get really crazy really fast, and for the newbies...pollinating a flower with it's own pollen is absolutely no guarantee that you will get a flower that looks like the bulb that flowered!!! You might get the grandparent or parents (or further back) in the mix!! The more crossbreeding that went into the flower you are hoping to reproduce, the less likely the babies will look just like it!
:-)
Kristi

I'm trying to cross Sweet Lilian with anything that she'll accept! So far, she's turned down Pasadena pollen... but there are more flowers up and coming, so we'll see. I've got my fingers crossed!

I crossed two nameless ones in 2007 and am waiting now for the blooms.
This year I planted only Supreme Garden x Sydney, Sydney x Supreme Garden, Minerva x unnamed white and Sydney x Amputo.
I'm not really happy with the outcome, I could have tried more interesting crosses. This time I'm storing pollen, I had good results with perhaps a month old pollen that I just kept in an opened plastic box in my room.

My recommendations for people new to the crossing business:

1. try to pollinate as much as you can and label every bloom with the name of the pollen parent. Even if you can't or don't want to keep all of the seeds.

2. Put the freshly harvested seeds in plastic boxes and label those. The easiest way is to use the scientific nomenclature: "pollen parent x motherplant". It's always good to know how well some crosses germinate. Keep the seedlings in the water until the second leaf appears. Cange water regulary and wash the plastic container. I had good results with small plastic lunchboxes (?) that I could close well.
I know that some prefer to sow directly. I chosed this method because I'm only planting the seeds that germinated and I know how much space they'll need. Also here I can already chose the strongest.

3. Just when the second leaf appears on some of the seedlings in one container, I plant them in pure cocofibre. Even if you don't like this medium for your grown up bulbs, for the babies it works really well. After they settled in, start watering with a slight amount of fertilizer. Just 1/5 or less of the recommended amount in the instructions.

4. As your seedlings are getting bigger you might want to repot them in bigger container. If you can't keep all of them take the ones with the most leaves and the biggest bulbs.

That's it, good luck with all of your crosses!

I was corrected last year that the seed donor (mother plant) is listed before the pollen donor. It's the reverse in animals where the sire is always listed first. I figured that as long as I kept track of who was seed and who was pollen-donor I'd be fine.

Starting seeds in ice cube trays is a great way to check viability as there are usually 12 individual sections.

I used empty/clean pill bottles to store pollen and had good luck with pollen that was a year old...we'll see what those babies look like.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR CROSSES...the more the merrier!!
:-)
K

I too say just go for it! So you get too many, then you learn to be more selective. I learned that it's a bad plan to plant them all together and let them get big. I learned to either give them away or ditch them if you decide they aren't that great. Having too many changes your attitude- all the pollinating and seedling growing is so fun- and you LEARN so much!

Thanks Kristi! I should know that, but somehow I keep making that wrong from time to time. I should have double-checked my post, too bad you can't change them afterwards.

salpal, I couldn't agree more. I left my seedlings for now nearly 3 years in the same pot. I planted 150 seeds, around 100 of them made it. After more than a year I reduced them to 20 and early this year I repotted and kept 14. I could always give the strongest ones of the bulbs I couldn't keep in that pot to friends but I also had to throw some away. But it'll happen that you'll run out of space the sooner or later.

If you're interested, I wrote some more about my crosses in ma thread:

Here is a link that might be useful: Greetings and question regarding H. reticulatum

I have a different way of sorting out the keepers from the not so great seedlings. I put them outside in the summer still together in pots and who ever survives is who I grow on. SInce I am looking for good, easy to grow cut flowers, I figure this eliminates the less hardy and leaves me with those who will withstand my usual benign neglect.

How did I decide on this method?

Well, um, it just kind of happened!

THis year I am working for stronger, longer lasting flowers and using pollen from my wonderful new "Antarctica" that thrilled me with the quality of its flowers. Have only bred to my earliest bloomers so far but have pollen stored and the 2nd round of bloom still to come. I don't know much about how colors mix but I can use almost anything as long as it is sturdy and long lasting and has at least some stem.

Do you have a pic of 'Antarctica'?

I can't bring myself to trash bulbs, so I will give away the ones I really don't want. There are probably lots of people on the swap page who would be happy to have them!

--Rr

Well speaking of crosses and lots of seedlings, I'm curious if anyone has tried growing their seedlings via hydroponics? -- I picked up some hydroton, which I know folks have mentioned using as a growing medium. I could only find it at the hydroponics store, and that was an eye-opening experience on many levels.

I spent at least an hour gawking, reading labels, looking at set ups, asking questions, and eavesdropping on other customers and staff.

Anyway, the idea is that by bringing the perfect diet of nutrients to seedling roots, you can dramatically speed up root development and vegetative growth, especially if you're growing the seedlings under lights.

***I'm planning on making a salad table (Martha Stewart idea) and then I read that using hydroponics, theoretically a family of four can grow all of their own produce in a 10' x10' space. So my simple project became something less simple.***

Forget the grow your own food movement, though. As soon as I saw that info about speeding up growth, don't you know I IMMEDIATELY thought of my bulb babies. :-D

I haven't checked the hydro board here yet, but am curious if anyone has tried or heard of folks trying this with bulb seedlings. It seems to me it could be particularly titillating for hybridizers, and the impatient.

G

Hello All, The Christmas Eve Blizzard has left OKC a 14" blanket of white. The biggest storm since records started.Have seen much bigger when I lived up north. So for 2 days I am here in the house, waiting for the St. Barnards to arrive with....well no it's not that bad!!! So plenty of time to play in the greenhouse. Finished the brick floor almost, and then I spotted a seedling from Royal Velvet, that is going to bloom for it's second time. The first from last years group of bulbs. Hooray. H. Evergreen will be here
soon, (thanks M.). Bought some more Chico's to keep it company. Seedlings are so much fun. If you have not grown a few from a cross or two you are missing out on some great excitement. Who knows what treasure might bloom for you!!!

Cheers!!

If anyone would like pollen from 'Little Star' (5" tall) or 'Firecracker', please let me know. Email me directly at RRedBBeard@yahoo.com

--Rr

On a fluke I decided to dab pollen from 'Lemon and Lime' on 2 of 'Little Star' blooms - fresh blooms so it should work. Perhaps I can get shorter stemmed offspring in red and green! Although I think the red of LS will dominate over the green/cream of LAL. Have to also wonder what previous generations of breeding will come through. Now THAT will be the truly interesting part!

I have noticed one major thing when it comes to seedlings... the larger the pot used to allow them to grow on, the bigger they get, and faster!

Those seedlings that I planted in their own little 2" and 3" pots are not gaining the size that the seedlings I grouped together in large pots are!

I'd hazard a guess and say that root room to colonize is extremely important in the early growth of our seedlings!

Are the most popular/commercial varieties generally clones, or are they raised from really pure hybrid seeds?

I remember from (gasp!) 40 years ago that Burpee's used to sell hippi seeds, but I can't find a retailer now. Any suggestions?

--Rr

I think they're doing both, most should be clones but I don't know in which proportions ...

Go to http://www.brazilplants.com/ for natural varieties!

You can buy some wonderful crosses on Ebay in small quantities....watch for Greentreasures sells wonderful crosses! I haven't bought any yet but am sure I will.... am constantly watching.
When you make your own crosses and are successful, you are inundated with seeds. You hate to throw any away, so you grow them all on and they you're trying to find them a home. It's very easy to become overwhelmed with seedlings!!

Donna

I usually grow a handful of anything I produce, and share the rest. Most seed pods contain way too many seeds to plant them all!

Ebay does, indeed, have a long list of Hippeastrum seed sellers, although most are hybrid seed and crosses. A few species show up every once in a while.

I always want to keep'em all. If you saw my apartment you would know what I mean (and then call for intervention!!!lol). My solution to the space problem is to bring my bulbs out of dormancy in April, and grow them outside. The plants that I let grow right now are having a hard time with the coolness of my kitchen at night. Hopefully the seed pods will endure, but if not I have pollen and will do those particular crosses again next year.

I was given 'White Christmas' for Christmas this year, with enough of a growth started that I had to let it keep growing. It's just sitting there, as are the narcissus bulbs that I potted up--I will see if I can give a slightly warmer spot. All the other hippi's are sound asleep in the basement...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

--Rr

I may be forced into forcing dormancy soon, if I don't do something about the space issue! I'm totally overcrowded! Every spot on every windowsill is taken, pots are shoulder to shoulder, and I've installed extra lighting to help take up the slack!

Amaryllids Anonymous doesn't yet exist, but perhaps we should think about opening a few chapters around the country... even around the world! "Hi... my name is Jodi, and I'm a bulb addict!"

I, too, would suggest that some warmth might spur those Paper Whites and your White Christmas into blooming. Warmth and light, and a little water, are all they need to get started.

I discovered what looks like all the necessary parts to pollinate on a Pasadena, which is a double. I gave it a bit of Minerva pollen, so we'll see what happens. I also put a bit of Pasadena pollen on what is labeled as Apple Blossom, but is actually a very lovely... I'm not sure. It looks like a cross between a Minerva and a Red Lion, if you can imagine what that might look like. It's a red, darker than Minerva, but with very slight Minerva-like stripings on the interior of the flower.

I just don't know where I'd force a dormancy here... the basement is too warm, I think, and we use it in late winter to start seeds. So, there would be lights on, and too much warmth... the garages are not heated, so they'd be too cold. I'm afraid any other place would have temperatures that fluctuated too much. My solution at the moment is to not grow too many seeds... and I've also begun growing vertically, using hanging baskets!

A slight reduction in temperature helps and I've read that lights are no problem. You could just force them by not giving any water any more and then taking them to the staircase or wherever in your home it's slightly colder.

I stopped using my flourescent light stand this winter, because I think it used a lot of electricity, and I am CHEAP!!! lol. You might consider putting your bulbs in the fridge over the winter if you have room, or buy an old fridge for the basement, which can't be too much more expensive than lights to run at a 40-50*F range. Then you could grow them outdoors in summer and not worry about them over the winter.

If you do put them in the fridge, be sure to double-bag them in PLASTIC--the frost-free feature will dehydrate them very badly otherwise, and I've lost plants that way.

Good luck!

I'm in a one room, upper floor apartment with no area that's cooler than another area... there's no way I can clog up the stairwell with all these pots (that's where I keep the dog food bin and supplement supplies)... I have no room in the fridge, and no funds to buy another one. The solution is going to be thinning out my hodge-podge collection, and only keeping the healthy named hybrid varieties and species.

I'd have more room if I got rid of all the cheap kit bulbs and garden variety no-namers I've collected over the past couple of years... in another thread, Maria mentions that there comes a time when you just have to make some choices... and that time is nigh!

I really wish I could plant these out in the gardens... boy, would that be pretty...

I hear ya--I am getting rid of a lot of duplicates and unwanted plants this summer either on ebay or giving to friends or hobbyists. This is more than just hippi's--I have clivias coming out of my ears, plus miracle fruit seedlings and an assortment of other plants.

I had a friend who would winter over some of his bulbs by carefully burying them well below the frost line in his lawn...

--Rr

Our water pipes get buried at about 3 feet, so I'm assuming that's below frost level here... a little bit too deep to bury tender bulbs!

It's funny, because some bulb types flourish in my area, planted very close to the soil surface... of course, these are hardy types... alliums, daffodils, etc...

I have other plants, too... several orchids, clivia, lots of other Amaryllid types, and a few other plants... too many for the space I have.

Water pipes are usually buried a lot deeper than the frost line, but I think that in most temperate areas in the northern US, the frost line is no more than about 5" deep. If you were to use a trench about 12" deep, I think you would be fine (but don't hold me to it! lol).

--Rr