Hi all, It is also my experience, although I've never made a systematic comparison, that fire is not needed for most South African bulbs that I've tried to grow. In getting bulbs to flower (in pots, in my case) time and size are the two critical factors. Sunshine and fertilizer are the cultural factors that contribute most to flowering. When it comes to germinating seeds of South African bulbs, one of the most important factors is the need for temperature fluctuations between day and night. The diurnal temperature cycle may be all-important, in fact. For this reason I tend to germinate South African seeds either outdoors in spring and autumn, or in the greenhouse. They do not germinate well indoors in an air-conditioned/heated house under lights, where the temperature variation from day to night is no more than ca. 5 Fahrenheit degrees, or about 2 Celsius degrees. This does not of course apply to the fleshy seeds of Amaryllis Family plants like Crinum, Clivia, Haemanthus, Hymenocallis, etc., which are "recalcitrant" (i.e., cannot go dormant). Jim Shields in frosty central Indiana (USA) where the temperature dropped to 29°F (ca. -2°C) this morning. At 10:30 AM 10/12/2006 +1000, Bill wrote: >Mary, Brian, >............. >I have tried both. A few years ago I did some tests with smoke and all of >the species of bulbs I grow germinated and flowered quite well without any >treatment. >......... >Bill Richardson, ************************************************* 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