Hello Kathleen, Alberto & Ina, I have just planted up a variety of PBS & self grown Belladonna, Amaragia, Brunsvegia etc too. Obviously our climates are vastly different, but I'm happy to share my personal experiences with these treasures. Certainly the gents, have a good point about careful handling of young roots. However my climate allows me astounding success regardless of root damage or not. Intact i have experimented by removing foliage & all roots on 6 to 8 month seedlings which recovered extremely quickly. ( Not something i recommend ha ha ) I usually pot into 6 " pots, until they are large enough to withstand native animals scratching around. I'n early Autumn for the start of their growing season I'n as little as 4 - 12 months. But i am very experienced with fragile seedlings. At this age they have never gone dormant, & grow like wild fire, but usually go dormant their first season once placed out I'n the elements. Steven : ) Esk Queensland Australia Summer Zone 5 Winter Zone 10 On 12/05/2012, at 6:09 AM, Kathleen Sayce <ksayce@willapabay.org> wrote: > A couple of years ago I received Amaryllis belladonna seeds from PBS's seed exchange in a variety of colors (white, light pink, dark pink). I think they were from Michael Mace. > > My question is: when are the bulbs large enough to survive outside in zone 8? Two inches wide? Or? > > Right now I have them in my cold frame, where they are growing on nicely; in fact they don't go dormant at all in there. I have not turned them out of their pots to see how big the young bulbs are, and will do so when and if they go dormant this summer. > > Kathleen > > Kathleen Sayce > PNW Coast, WHZ 8, dryish cool summers & mild wet winters > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/