Hello This year in France we've experienced a very unusually hot winter. Temperatures here in Paris were rarely below 5°C during the night. And for the first time, I've observed a very good germination rate in my seeds of Eriospermum. For the past two years I've tried with very little success the sowing of these "winter species". What does "winter or autmn grower" mean for sowing those seeds ? I've tried to sow them in late August, i.e. in early fall, with poor germination. Too hot I thought. so I've made it in november, with the same results. "Too cold" I thought. I watered them when the surface was dry, and the seeds, even with a cautious watering, were disturbed and didn't germinate. I also observed that my seeds didn't germinate the next year, when let undisturbed in a dry and shadowy place. So only sow fresh seeds, less than a year old. Then this year, after some thoughts, I proceeded that way : -first, I sow my seeds only when temperatures were below 10°C at night, but over 6°C. I think night temperatures are the most important factor in the temperature parameters. -I burried the seeds with a very thin layer of very fine sand and very fine vermiculite, about 2-3 mm : in fact a very light cover; -The pots were soaked during a night at my room temperature (20°C) and the next day placed outside, in a light place on my balcony without direct sun (day temp 12°C, night temp 6°C) -After sowing the seeds, about from 1 cm of the top of the pot, I put 2 labels with the name, reaching about 4 cm above the pot, and wrapped a cellophane plastic film around, to make a "mini greenhouse". -I didn't need to water them more with this paper, so the seeds were not disturbed. With this method, I reach for some species (E. aphyllum) 100% germinating rate, and very young seedlings experienced two nights at -1°C without any damage. Species that were not yet fully germinated were just slower than the first ones. what do you think about this? do you think Eriospermum seed longevity is higher? How do you make yours? How do you treat them after this stage? Mine are about 1 cm high, and I still don't need to watere them or to remove the cellophane. I wonder when it'd be the best time to do. They're protected from wind with this. Well... I'm happy this time ! Cet e-mail a été envoyé depuis un ordinateur protégé par Avast. http://www.avast.com/ <https://www.avast.com/sig-email/> <#DDB4FAA8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/