Cyrtanthus

I have had very good luck with cyrtanthus seeds and other winged amaryllids
by placing them in a clean/clear plastic disposable container (Glad Ware) on
several layers of well moistened paper towels. To ensure that the seedlings
are not attacked by fungus, I added a little fungicide to the water as I
moistened the paper towels. I placed the seeds directly on the paper towels,
put the lid on tightly and placed it in a warm bright location. In about a
week or so nearly 100% of the seed sprouted (these were fresh seeds). I
don't see why this technique shouldn't work on slightly older seeds. I have
tried this technique twice with velthemia seeds and got 100% results, now I
have an explosion of velthemia seedlings at varying stages of growth. Give
it a shot and keep us posted.

Warms Regards,
Fred Biasella
Cambridge (Boston) MA
USDA Zone 6b

...and shoveling out from a tremendous 3' plus blizzard!!!!

-----Original Message-----
From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of J.E. Shields
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2005 2:43 PM
To: Pacific Bulb Society
Subject: Re: [pbs] Cyrtanthus

Alberto,

Floating seeds on water is my favorite way of starting Cyrtanthus seeds --
BUT! you have to remove them from the water and plant them as soon as the
tip of the radicle emerges. Otherwise, they have never adjusted to growing
in air for me. The germinating seeds appear to drown very easily once they
have started to germinate.

In this regard they are quite unlike Hippeastrum seeds, which can grow in
shallow water for a long time and still survive when planted in solid mix.

Good luck, and let us know how your year-old seeds do for you. Which
species are they?

Regards,
Jim Shields
in central Indiana, where we have bright sun shining on the white snow.

At 08:06 PM 1/23/2005 +0100, you wrote:

Dell, thank you.
On "A review of the Southern African Species of Cyrtanthus", by Reid, I
have read about the germination of the seeds in water with success. Did
you or anyone experimented this method?
Ciao.
Alberto

Italy

---------- Initial Header -----------

From : pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org

To : "Pacific Bulb Society" pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
Cc :
Date : Sun, 23 Jan 2005 09:07:43 -0500
Subject : Re: [pbs] Cyrtanthus's seeds

Dear Alberto,

Yes, contrary to myth, cyrtanthus and other papery amaryllid seed can

remain

viable for a year or more, particularly if refrigerated. Germination
percentage will probably be reduced.

Regards,
Dell

--Dell Sherk, Director, Pacific BX

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Alberto Grossi
Italy
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Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA

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