HDD, I am no expert, but as far as I know, neoregelias require bright light to germinate. That is why they are never covered with growing medium but needs to be on top to get as much light as possible! I am still experimenting with the fertilizer, but I start using weak doses as soon as I need to start watering the seedlings. I try to keep them in sealed containers for about 3 - 4 weeks. Japie

Thanks! This is exactly the information I need and you have comparable sunlight, temperature and rainfall.

Thank you Lisa.

That's like a complete manual!
Awesome.

Sander

A stunning training manual indeed, Sander! Thanks Lisa!! I obviously have to do it a little different as I am not living in a hothouse. That is why I like to seal my seal my containers. So that both heat and moisture can be trapped. I fortunately do not have a problem with algae. Here are some cruenta seedlings (sown 27 June). They are now exposed to being uncovered and outside daily but still get covered at night, mainly for the sake of snails. And as you can see, no sign of algae yet - and I do not treat to prevent it. Maybe later in the year when it gets warmer it will be a problem
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Thank you Lisa..I knew those questions would get good answers from you :))

Hi Lisa,
Well,I typed up a nice long reply regarding your oh-so-informative posting,and somehow managed to lose it when I accidently hit some keys on my keyboard. So,I'll just sum it up by saying thank you for taking the time to help all us folks with your tried & true methods.
After seeing your greenhouse collection in past postings, and now your seedling bench,I don't know how you still manage to provide so much information and photos so often,when you must have soooo many other chores to do.
So a 'Big Thank You' to you for your time on the GW.
Bob

Lisa,
That's great information - John's trying to hybridise (vrieseas) even though he's supposed to be doing other stuff (did I mention we have a house to finish?!!) so hopefully this will get him on the right track. You should write a book. (even a collation of all your posting would make for great reading for us bromeliadaddicts)

Thanks, all!

Now, I'd *really* better get back to work! ;-)

thanks Lisa,
your latest posting has answered a few more questions I was contemplating asking.
The most fun I've had in ages, propagating neos from seed.

Lisa- Out of curiousity about how long are the plants in your last pic from seed? Thanks for all the insight!

Those are about a year and a half old, Mike, but it all depends on how quickly you move them along. If you sow them thinly enough that they have plenty of room to spread out in the community pot, and feed them well, and keep moving them up to the next level as soon as they are ready, you could probably get to that stage within a year-- assuming, of course, you have year-round growing weather.

I don't always do that. Since I squeeze the berries directly onto the media, I'm not always sure how many seeds are going to be in there and sometimes I miscalculate the size pot I'm going to need and they end up being overcrowded. That will set them back, and you'll end up having to sacrifice a lot of them when you try to pull them apart.

Sometimes I just leave them in the community pot a long time anyway, either because I don't have the time or space for them at the moment, or because that particular cross doesn't excite me as much as some of the others and I'd just as soon wait and see if they are going to show me something before I even bother to spot them off. If you hold off on the fertilizer a bit, you can often see colors, marmoration, zonation, etc. when they are still fairly small:

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Just because one looks redder, though, doesn't mean it's going to be the best plant. Maybe red isn't what you're going for, but I'll look for anything-- color, markings, width of leaf, vigor, overall health, in deciding which ones to keep. It's very arbitrary, and a lot of undistinguished little green seedlings that might have grown into rare and subtle beauties get tossed out, but I just don't have the time or space to grow them all out.

Good post HDD.......some fantastic info here...!

Lisa, that nice dark one in the last photo of your 1st post, middle tray, towards the back...very nice. Is this batch one of your Blushing Tiger / Blushing Blueberry hybrids.

Those 3 trays are all F2s of Blueberry Tiger, Andrew.

Lisa how much drainage do the flat seedling trays have?

Plenty of drainage, HDD. You can see the pukas in the bottom in the second and third pics above. I use the same type of tray to spot them off into, just line the bottom with a coarser media to keep it from all washing out the holes, and then top it with a layer of fine peat/perlite mix.