Hippeastrum species from seed.

I recently purchased some Hippeastrum species seed. I was a little worried about the age of the seed as I know they are supposed to be fresh, but I had them for around 2 weeks before floating them, and that was nearly 4 weeks from the seeds being posted from Brazil. I was not sure how old the seeds were from being harvested either.

On Sunday night, 3rd February, I floated 8 lots of seed on water. I boiled the water, let it cool, and filled plastic food containers (I used coleslaw tubs) to just over half full. The lids I left loosely on top. At first I left them at the dark end of my kitchen/diner which has been 16C (61F) rising to 20C (68F) at night with heating. I became worried about whether the temperature of the water would rise sufficiently with the air temperature, also whether this temperature was high enough. Last year I successfully germinated Rhodophiala rhodolirion with this method, but my feelings were I should move the Hippeastrum seeds to a warmer place.

I made space on the mantle above the fire place in my lounge room, I don't have a fire until nightfall as the room this winter has kept warm enough. Lately it has been mild, I have a water/bauble gauge on the mantle which tells me the temperature in that rises firstly to 19C, then to 21C. My guess is the day temp. doesn't go much below 18C.

On the fifth day, the 8th, I have one H. calyptratum germinating! The seeds are larger than most and are brownish in colour, the skin had split down one edge of the thicker 'embryo' in the centre in the first day. This worried me slightly as I wasn't sure if it was going to just go mushy. The next hopeful is H. blossfeldiae, it has split it's skin.

The pic. is of H. calyptratum, the root can be seen emerging from the inner capsule from which I imagine the first leaf will emerge later.

YEA!!! Great job, Janet....isn't it exciting to watch them so closely and follow the way they become what they are! I just love them!

Thanks, wallaby, for your informative post. Keep us informed. I'll be looking forward to seeing your seedlings grow!

R.

I've sprouted hundreds of these guys and am as excited at their emergence now as I was for the very first one.
Good luck to you!

Good job Janet--I've stopped floating seeds at all. I started some the regular way I do all my Amaryllidaceae on 1/4/08 and they are finally all up. I had about given up on them stuck them in the unheated garage.
Deb

Thanks for the encouragement! It looks like I have 6 out of 10 of H. calyptratum germinating today!

This will be fun to watch my progress (or not!), yes raydio I will try to keep it documented.

Deb, I think if the conditions are right the seed would do just as well or sometimes better sown the regular way. Your temps have probably been just right lately, putting them in the garage may have done the trick.

Yes Janet, it is exciting to see them emerge!

Thanks gordo, I don't think I will be doing hundreds, but...oh yes, I have 10 x 8 already awaiting germination!

80 possible seedlings is exciting too. I had over fifty last year and I am hoping they will mature to flowering plants in the next couple of years for sure. I just can't wait to see them bloom!

That should keep you busy with potting Janet! Space is another thing, lol..

Earlier this evening I had 7 with roots emerged, now I have 8, the other two shouldn't be long as they are thick and bending. 100% is beyond my expectations! I hope the rest will follow suit.

You can see how most are bent in the middle, they don't all split like the first one did but send a root out the bottom.

Under water shot.

Good job Janet! Wouldn't a time lapse video be cool on that?!

It would have been great Deb! They are fast workers!

All 10 of H. calyptratum roots had emerged by last night, that's 1 week from floating. Some of the roots are now close on 1" long.

Today there was 1 of H. papilio germinated.

H. sp. aff aulicum 'Corupa' has a root inside the sheath of one, bending it, another has a root emerging from the bottom.

H. blossfeldiae has a split sheath, expecting a root soon.

Congradulations Janet and a wonderful photo documentation for all to see. You should really add those shots to the Amaryllis plant files so it can be seen what happens when floating seed to geminate it.

Thanks Cindy, I had thought of htat but I would have to create some new entries for these species if I did.

By tonight I had 6 H. papilio germinated.

There are 3 of H. aulicum which are bent with roots, more looking promising.

I have one called "Big white with red stripes (selfed)", I was getting worried about those as a couple looked to be going gungy, but one now has a root. This one I am interested in, as it may be a species which couldn't be verified, I did ask what it 'might' be but wasn't told.

One H. calyptratum now has a tiny leaf emerging.

H. striatum 'Petiolatum' now has one germinated.

H. papilio has 7.

H. aulicum 'Corupa' has 2 roots emerged but 7 in all including bent ones.

'Big White with red stripes' still 1.

Still waiting on H. blossfeldiae and H. glaucescens.

The 8th one is Eithea blumenavia, which I floated for 2 days then sowed with a light covering and placed in the propogator. I don't know what I should have done, but the seeds had swollen a lot so I decided that may be the best route.

H. glaucescens has one germinated today.

H. calyptratum has 3 with small leaves now. The right one is the smallest, you can just see the leaf coming from the stem under the water surface.

Roots!

Janet you could probably post the last two pictures in plant files. There is no names on the seeds and they look very much like a normal amaryllis seed floating. This would give some one an idea what the germination looks like. Cindy

Oh by the way congradulations on the success.

LOVELY!!!

I guess I could do that Cindy, it would take some of the intrepidation away for those who are nervous of doing it and I guess not many people would go to the species entry but I will possibly make entries for the species. There is a lable on the bottom of the last pic, but I could do another pic. Thanks!

Thanks raydio!

Getting quick results on H. glaucescens now, tonight I had 8 germinated! There was only 1 yesterday.

H. striatum 'Petiolatum' now has 3. (2 more)

H. aulicum 'Corupa' has 8. (1 more)

No change on the rest, I really thought H. blossfeldiae would have some by now!

Things are hotting up!

Tonight I have:

H. blossfeldiae 2! I moved it to the middle of the mantle to get more warmth last night.
H. aulicum 'Corupa' 9 (1 more)
H. striatum 'Petiolatum' 6 (3 more)
H. papilio 8 (1 more)
H. Big white red stripes 1 (no change)
H. glaucescens 9 (1 more)
H. calyptratum 10 (7 with leaves)



This message was edited Feb 19, 2008 1:04 AM

Will you put these in a cool greenhouse after potting or leave them inside?

I will have to keep them inside until danger of frost is past, and that can be up to June! The weather here can be too variable and it can be very cold even up to mid April with winter temperatures at times, it can be that cold even in early May!

Once they get enough size on them I can put them in a greenhouse (once the other stuff has been booted out for summer!). They can stay there until early December if the weather remains reasonable. I kept some in the greenhouse which is semi-shaded until a week into December last year and they were fine, we even had a couple of -5C (23F) frosts.

I'm saving up tall, narrow plastic soup pots! For a start I will put each species in a pot together until they get big enough. I need to get a shelving system to put up in front of the window in the spare bedrooom, when space is short you go up, lol.

H. blossfeldiae 2 (no change)
H. aulicum 'Corupa' 9 (no change)
H. striatum 'Petiolatum' 6 (no change)
H. papilio 8 (no change - 1 was flat with no middle, remaining one is fat)
H. Big white red stripes 1 (no change)
H. glaucescens 10 (1 more)
H. calyptratum 10 (9 with leaves)

Here's calyptratum today, you can see the bulbs starting to form.

H. blossfeldiae 3 (1 more)
H. aulicum 'Corupa' 9 (no change)
H. striatum 'Petiolatum' 6 (no change)
H. papilio 8 (no change - 1 was flat with no middle, remaining one is fat)
H. Big white red stripes 1 (no change)
H. glaucescens 10
H. calyptratum 10 (10 with leaves)

H. blossfeldiae 4 (1 more)
H. aulicum 'Corupa' 9 (no change)
H. striatum 'Petiolatum' 7 (1 more)
H. papilio 8 (no change - 1 was flat with no middle, remaining one is fat)
H. Big white red stripes 1 (no change)
H. glaucescens 10
H. calyptratum 10 (10 with leaves)

H. blossfeldiae 10 (6 more)
H. aulicum 'Corupa' 9 (no change ~ 4 with leaves)
H. striatum 'Petiolatum' 7 (no change)
H. papilio 8 (no change - 1 was flat with no middle, remaining one is fat)
H. Big white red stripes 1 (no change)
H. glaucescens 10
H. calyptratum 10 (10 with leaves)


This message was edited Feb 24, 2008 12:46 AM

Good going for most.

:-)

I realized last year the seedings I had under lights were constantly needing water. These are florescent lights that are fairly cool to touch. Well this week I was moving seedlings to a sun room and setting up new lights in there. As I was moving things around I sat my bowl of water (3 inches in diameter and about 1and1/2 in deep of water) that had some amaryllis seeds floating on the shelf under the lights . I forgot and left them there over night. The next morning that bowl was totally dry. I just did not realize that the lights caused that much evaporation.

Thanks for a great thread Janet. It is so amazing to see the bulbs begin.

I just edited to add 4 with leaves for aulicum, those yet to root are looking very close on all except Big White with red strips. They (BW) tend to sink easily (when I disturb them!)but I can get them to refloat, most do look like they will germinate as they have plumped up well.

All of the species are doing very well, I was surprised by blossfeldiae's late start, then galloping finale, it looked the most promising for a start.

I have had to remove the lid from H. calyptratum as the leaves are getting too tall, as soon as they all look sufficiently developed I will pot them up. I will have to get another pic of them before I pot them.

Cindy, are your seeds OK after drying? I don't use lights, in fact they get very little light on my mantle. Some seeds prefer some darkness and I think Hipps might be one of them. Mine also have a lid sat on top to keep the moisture in, that will keep the seeds in a moist atmosphere as well as having water underneath. It seems to suit them.

:~))

I don't use lights either to germinate the amaryllis only after I have potted them up. The seeds were fine. I just sat my bowl down there by accident.

I think all has come to a standstill, even though the few remaining seeds look OK I doubt they will germinate. The one Big White with red strips which germinated is rotting, looks like they weren't a good self cross.

H. calyptratum has been the most consistent and fastest to grow. Most of the others are making leaves, but a few are slow and may not get there. I should end up with a good number of each.

Now comes the part to plant them successfully.

Last night I planted up the 10 H. calyptratum, they actually looked very happy today. I used a deep pot and made a deep hole for each plant with my finger to bury the roots. I have left the bulb part above the surface, the seed pods are still attached with the original seed inside still. This is likely to provide food until the plant is established.

The compost mixture is my own with approx 2/3 leafy compost with gritty soil.

Very nice, Wallaby!

Hope all your other babies look that good. I know they'll be getting the best of care.

R.

Thanks raydio!

I'm thinking of potting up H. aulicum 'Corupa' tomorrow. 7 of the 9 have good sized leaves now, the other 2 are stalling making leaves so I might just plant them as they are.

Of the 7 H. striatum 'Petiolatum' all are coming along well except one which looks a little puny, and the tip of the leaf is going red. I might pot them up too, they seem to sink into the water too easily. I have propped the leaves against the edges to hold them up. This one might be better just grown in a pot from the start, but so far they are doing well.

H. papilio has 3 with leaves up to an inch long, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to leave them in water for much longer as they have all made their small bulbs. Their bulbs are elongated but fatter on the bottom end.

Most of H. blossfeldiae have made small leaves, one is heading southwards so I tried to turn it around, lol. The bulbs looked small and more rounded but seem to be elongating now.

I seem to have lost the root on one H. glaucescens, 8 of the 9 left have small leaves but they make such small 'tear drop' shaped bulbs where the leaf comes off near to it. This is having the effect of making a small 'cradle' shape in a curve under the water, with leaves struggling to get to the surface. Time to relocate them!

In fact, I think they have all been in water for long enough. They have the essentials to grow so may be better potted up so they can get on with making proper roots. Leaving them in water too long could cause them to go downhill at this stage in my opinion.

I have a feeling H. blumenavia isn't going to grow, I had the mandatory scratch around this morning and couldn't find a thing!

Looks like I will be busy tomorrow...

I can't believe you can leave them in water this long I had two unkowns floating, the foilage about half to 3/4 inch, they just kinda drowned on me.

Lol, maybe I shouldn't have either Cindy, but they have just got to the stage where they are said to need potting. That is once the first leaf is an *inch* or more tall. Some are more, some are less, but by nature they will vary.

"Unknowns" could be the clue, these are species and the one I had which wasn't a species only had one germinate which rotted. They were still floating but I did have trouble with one or two earlier on doing a dive.

H. calyptratum is epiphytic in nature, I imagine the humidity and/or rain it gets when it germinates is high.

I took pics of them all tonight but it's late so will only post one for now.

H. striatum 'Petiolatum', which I have potted up today. I also potted H. aulicum 'Corupa'.

The leaves on this one are shorter and broader, roots are also short by comparison.

H. blossfeldiae, tiny leaves only yet but bulbs nicely developed.

H. papilio, still only 3 with leaves but all with well developed bulbs. Two of the bulbs are a strange shape, one looks to have split and they have some red on them.