Lycoris sprengeri baby bulbs from seed

Gastil marygastil@yahoo.com
Sat, 24 Mar 2012 14:18:19 PDT
Hi Lycoris growers,

I have not grown Lycoris before and have only these beginning 
experiences with bulb seed. And clearly I have not learned patience. A happy surprise today: when I tipped out the soil from a pot of germinated Lycoris sprengeri, which appeared dead and I had given up on, out fell four healthy-looking baby bulbs with roots.  They had merely gone dormant.

I photographed them along with one of the now-empty shell of one of the seeds.
http://flickr.com/photos/gastils_garden/…

Then I quickly re-potted them with fresh seed-starter mix.  Should I keep them dry or damp during their dormancy?  Warm or cool? I did not see what depth they were growing in the pot.  Should they be neck-to-surface?  There is a second pot which also had 4 seeds sprout, which also looks dormant now.  (Well, it looks like nothing but soil.)  Should I re-pot those or leave them as-is? These seedlings have never had a leaf.  The seeds sent out shoots which stuck themselves into the potting soil and turned green on their long necks to the seed. The seeds are from PBS BX 297 #4 from Jim Waddick. Received 8 Dec and soaked until 13 Dec 2011. Germinated 21 Dec. March 2012 nothing visible above soil.

- Gastil
The above are indoors, but outdoors a riot of bloom: Freesias, Scilla, Ipheion, Watsonia, Dierama, Sparaxis, Muscari, Babiana, Moraea, a couple late daffodils and various dicots including an explosion of purple Tropaeolum. California central coast, Zone 9b.



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