Brunsvigia grandiflora seeds
boutin (Fri, 10 Oct 2003 22:38:33 PDT)

Thanks again to Rhoda and Cameron and everyone else who made distribution of
the Brunsvigia grandiflora seed possible. My packet of sprouts went into a
community pot where 19 now have leaves. A few arrived with leaf tips
damaged and/or rotted. These are continuing to produce bulbs and some
additional leaf growth.

Fred Boutin
Tuolumne, CA . Zone 7
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary Sue Ittner" <msittner@mcn.org>
To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2003 9:12 AM
Subject: [pbs] Brunsvigia grandiflora seeds

Dear All,

Dell tells me that 30+ people asked for the Brunsvigia grandiflora seeds
from Rhoda and Cameron. I think this is a splendid opportunity to document
how long Amaryllid seed can remain viable and still produce bulbs.

Rhoda and Cameron stored the seed in their refrigerator as they planned to
sell it as orders came in. So it was there quite a long time. I am sure
that many people at the IBS Symposium purchased seed. When we visited them
after the Symposium was over, most of the seeds that was left had already
formed radicles so the seed needed to be planted immediately. Rhoda and
Cameron were going to be moving soon so they were very busy and they made
the decision rather than trying to find time to plant it as they normally
would have, to bring pleasure to members of this list by donating it.

Rachel agreed to provide a phyto and send the seeds to her brother in the
US that week. He would send the seeds on to Dell. As I wrote explaining

all

this to Dell so he could notify everyone, Patty Colville went through all
the seeds and removed those that were clearly not going to make it. Rachel
advised packing them in a paper bag. We hoped those that were plump even

if

they had already started the process, could still be sown, and would grow.
But then it took about three weeks for the seeds to get to Dell who
reported they looked like Chinese Bean Sprouts at that stage. He
immediately sent them on to everyone. So it would seem that at least 4-5
weeks had passed and maybe longer after these seeds had started to
germinate before they could be planted. And they wouldn't have always been
cool in transit.

I would assume that if they are going to grow, many of them will already
have shoots. I am asking those who got seeds to let us know how they are
doing. If you are reluctant to do this to the whole group, please let me

or

Dell know and we can summarize anonymous reports. I know when I give
something to the BX I always wonder what luck people had. I am sure that
all of us who were involved in making this happen would love to know if it
was worth it. And it would be helpful information for the future.

Thanks.

Mary Sue

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