Tecophilaea from seed
Jane McGary (Sun, 24 Aug 2008 10:45:40 PDT)

I have grown many Tecophilaea cyanocrocus from seed over the years, having
purchased three corms around 1991. Since the plants rarely increase more
than 100% per year vegetatively, it's advisable to do this.

I plant the seed in my normal mix (equal parts coarse sand, ground pumice,
and peat) in fall and leave them outside until the weather drops seriously
below freezing, when I bring them into a cool frost=free sunroom with the
other seeds. I don't think it gets up to 70 F very often in there, even on
sunny days. They usually germinate in midwinter, two to three months after
sowing, and grow on for three to five months.

The big problem with growing Tecophilaea under glass is etiolation (the
leaves become long and lax). Once I have corms (which can be identified
readily after the first growing season), I put them in the bulb frames,
where they experience winter temperatures into the 20s F while in growth. I
find this species (which is subalpine in nature, growing as a snowmelt
plant apparently in similar conditions to our deciduous Lewisia species)
stays in character and flowers much better when grown as hard as possible.
I think as long as the foliage is not wet, it can stand quite a bit of
frost at night. The seedlings are also attacked by aphids when grown
frost-free, but I rarely get aphids in the bulb frames. I use a granular
systemic insecticide to combat aphids in the sunroom seed trays.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA