I've tried twice to start these from seed and haven't had luck with germination. I may try again this year.

Gee, Steve, wasn't it you who I just read on another thread were going to try lisianthus too? You are adventurous, lol!

I'm just going to pass this bit along too - not, sadly, from personal experience, as I never got that far, lol - but from what I've read, alstromeria can be aggressive. I know that I planned on keeping mine in containers, if I ever got any plants, that is!

Best of luck to you! I'll be watching for your experience with both this and the lisianthus!

:)
Dee

Yeah, guess I'm a glutton for punishment! According to Armitage:

"the seed flats are generally cooled 2-4 weeks
at 45-50F. Germination is 50-70%."

Apparently Alstroemeria germinates better with cold stratification, so I've got mine in the fridge along with the lisianthus. Seems like they would do well wintersown. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Steve, I did wintersow mine, but again, had no luck with germination. I too am a glutton for punishment, lol, which means I will probably try again. I am a bit behind in starting my WSing this year (all my free time has been spent shoveling snow and chipping ice!) but I am going to try to get some containers out today, so maybe I'll consider the alstromeria...

:)
Dee

Steve, you're a more ambitious man than I am. Good luck to you, and keep us posted.

ThinMan

Steve, I don't have any advice for you--but lots of admiration! I will consider myself fortunate if I can save my alstromeria plants from last year over the winter--and so far it's looking promising.

However, I'm also interested in how to germinate lisianthus--what is the process for chilling or cooling them? I started some pelleted seed a couple of weeks ago, on a heat mat--and no sign of anything yet. In our climate(western Canada) they need all the head start I can give them--so any advice is appreciated!

Just thought I'd post an update on this project. This morning I planted out 24 Alstroemeria seedlings. They ranged in size from 2 inches to just barely coming up. My germination so far is only about 25% but I'm not giving up on the late cells yet. They are known to be slow to germinate and to have a low percentage germination so I'll keep watering the flats in hopes of getting some more to come up. I planted them on about 16 inch centers, 3 rows down a 4 foot wide bed.

All right, Steve! Good job. Keep 'em going, and keep us posted.

It's still a little too early here to take a chance on setting out plants, but I did get some early veggies in today, for our own use.

TM

I had the orange variety out in Oregon. Turned way invasive. When I first planted them and they bloomed I was out working in the garden and kept hearing what sounded like small firecrackers. I finally figured out it was the seed pods exploding! Those small fiberous roots got into everything. Jumped sidewalks, moved from flower bed to flower bed, etc.Whenever I gave away other plants from my garden, I tried to pick out the roots and warned others to check it again before they planted it. I love the flowers, but won't be planting any at my new house.

Congrats, Steve!! I did try sowing them again this year (because of this thread, lol) and again, no luck. I might just buy some plants and start from there.

Good luck with your seedlings. Do, however, keep in mind what I mentioned about hearing them to be invasive, which rafor expanded upon. I know its sometimes easier to keep these things in control when we are always cutting them and therefore cut down on reseeding, but it might be wise to keep an eye on them.

How are your lisianthus doing? I'll have to take a look to see if you posted a thread about those. Never did get around to them this year!

Dee