From: "Hans-Werner Hammen" <haweha@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [pbs] Hippeastrum seeds and light
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 16:15:32 +0000

Hi Darren:

You can germinate hippeastrums in the dark.
This is even advantageous because then the substrate dries out more slowly.

However when the first seedlings show up with leaves 1 cm long then it is
high time to apply natural light or artificial light from fluorescent tubes
or high pressure metal halide discharge lamps, the area related electric
installation power being in the magnitude of 200 Watts / square meter.

I recommend "only" 22 to 25°C indoors.
That is enough in order to envoke full growth speed.
Higher temperatures means a shift of the light/temperature ratio indoors to
a critical lower level and might provoke a more elongated, unstable,
watery,
spillery growth.
For the same reason there might be some advantage to reduce the night
temperature. For energy saving reasons (I admit), but with this in mind
too, I reduce the air temperature to 20-22°C at night.

There is another point of view associated with these recommendations which
might become relevant - much later: You disadvantage those seedlings
individuals which have a higher or particularly high temperature demand.
For my part I never want to keep such capricious seedlings. These should
all
be thrown away when the moment has come to select and replant the
youngsters.

Hans-Werner

seeds

These

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