It takes 4-6 years to raise nerine saniensis from seed to flowering. Something we do all the time - use our potting mix for best results! (see http://www.nerines.com/ and track down growing hints...) The key is the seeds have to be sown fresh straight after flowering as they are programmed to hit the ground running, so to speak, with the root tip already starting to grow as soon as the seed pod ripens and splits. This is because they flower at the beginning of the wet season and need to use the rest of the season to get underground and grow roots. Help them do this by planting 1/4 inch deep. The following year they will throw up one tiny leaf, in year 2 two, and so on as the bulb builds up. First find your parent and away you go... Good luck Nick de Rothschild PS for ready grown flowering sized bulbs shipped anywhere PayPal operates see our website in June-July for shop! (Ever the salesman me..... ask Jim how well the plants he got last year have done) ----- Original Message ----- From: "J.E. Shields" <jshields104@comcast.net> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Sunday, November 01, 2009 9:32 PM Subject: [pbs] Raising Nerine from Seed > How long does it take to raise Nerine bowdenii from seed to > blooming? Nerine sarniensis hybrids? I've seen it take 9 years for > bowdenii to get one bulb (out of three) from small seedlings ca 1/2 inch > diameter to bloom, but I've never grown bowdenii from seed to blooming. > > I've never tried with sarniensis either. I've grown the dwarf species, > like angustifolia, filifolia, and filamentosa from seed, and they are > rather quick -- perhaps 3 years or so. > > Growing bowdenii, huttoniae, krigei, and laticoma from small seedling to > blooming seems to take an eternity! Any advice would be appreciated. > > Jim Shields > in sunny Westfield, Indiana > USA > > > ************************************************* > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/