Hello Paul,

Welcome to the PBS! Your questions are absolutely appropriate and I will
try to answer them as good as I can. But let me first say that the way
you ask and what you ask shows that you are a good observer and I am
sure you will end up with a successful collection of bulbs. We all make
mistakes! You live in one of the best climates to grow winter growing
bulbs (and much more)

For the labels I recommed the old fashioned lead pencil on thick plastic
labels or aluminium if you can get it. Fading labels are a pain, if you
use them longer you will find that brittle labels are a pain, too.

Your pictures show plants in the process of going dormant but most are
not yet dormant so I recommend watering them until the foliage has died
down completely. For sure they are not dead! The longer you can keep the
remaining green leaves green the better for the young bulb. Once they
have really dried up you should stop watering. I noticed that there is a
Lilium with the other bulbs, this needs a different treatment as it is
summer growing. It happened to me that I did not notice an evergreen or
summer growing pot in the trays of winter growing seedlings and I killed
it with the standard winter grower's regime. Never force a plant into
dormancy if it does not "obey" . It may be wrongly named and thus be
something else or, more likely many first year seedlings skip the first
dormancy and remain green especially in a mild summer climate like
yours. Each pot needs an individual treatment at this time of the year.

My recommendation for your climate is to sow winter growing bulbs
outside, in the open, exposed to the weather, the rain and fluctuating
temperatures. You seem to be in a frost free location, so no problem.
Why did you put your seedlings into a cold frame? I use an old hotbed
window above some of the pots which I consider too fragile for the open
air treatment but even that produces so much warmth that I remove it
during dry spells. Warmth or even heat always signals the onset of
dormancy. That is why I think you live in a great climate, you should be
able to keep your bulbs green well into May or even June because it will
not be hot. The Dutch bulb fields are in a similar climate, not for
nothing. Just a few days of warm weather will not matter if you keep
your plants shaded (removable shade cloth) and well watered. Full sun
during the winter months is fine but as soon as the sun gets stronger
partial shade/shade cloth or diffuse bright light like on the north side
of a wall is better.

Re-potting seedlings: I absolutely agree with Jane in all what she
wrote, never prick out bulb seedlings in growth. But turning a crowded
seedling pot upside down and have the entire root ball on the other hand
is fine, then repot into a larger pot, the bulbs will use the available
space, as Jane said, you can gently loosen the root ball without taking
it apart. I often do that in the second season when I realize that a
seedling pot is too full, immediate watering, shade for a few days, I
never had any losses this way. If you use a soft plastic pot the pot may
bulge which is always a sign of overcrowding, if there is no bulging
there is still enough space underground. All the pots I see on your
pictures are not overcrowded.

Fertilizer: Why do you say that slow release fertilizer is a bad idea?
Personally I do not use it for seed but did you have problems with it?
Fertilizing seedlings is very important, especially at the end of the
growing season before dormancy sets in. It is this period where the
bulbs increase most in size and fertilizing with a high potash and
phosphorus and low nitrogen product is very beneficial, type tomato
fertilizer. Slow release fertilizer release the nutrients temperature
dependent and I had a disaster once in my greenhouse. It became very hot
and all those plants fertilized with SL fertilzer had burnt roots
because of a sudden release. I now use a water soluble balanced one.

First dormancy is the most critical time. once you are sure the leaves
have fully died down stop watering and move the pots to a place where
they do not get wet uncontrolled. As your summers are not as hot as mine
in Portugal, I would think that once every four weeks a small amount of
water is enough. Most young bulbs do not want to remain brutally dry for
months on end, I have lost seedling bulbs this way. And for heavens
sake, keep the bulbs in their compost in their pots! Too much water is
not good either. This sounds more complicated than it really is and you
will soon get the experience. Most bulbs are forgiving but the odd one
may teach you a lesson..... You mention pot size. The bigger the
seedling pot is the more stable the conditions are in it. I use square 8
x 8 x 8,5cm pots as standard but for some seeds I use up to 6 liter
pots. The big pots are good for Ranunculaceae and those which resent
transplanting.

Transplanting: I do not recommend transplanting bulb seedlings during
their first dormancy. As Jane said, there may be many seeds left which
will still germinate in the second season (or even later) which you
would lose and I would also worry about missing very small bulbs in the
process. You will have to find your compost which remains stable and
well draining/moisture retentive for more than one season. I find
especially South African Gladiolus species are better kept in their
initial pots for at least two seasons. Obviously big seedling bulbs like
Freesia can of course be transplanted once dormant. In case of doubt, if
I toss out a pot and find only very tiny bulbs I put everything back
into the pot. Potting needs some discipline and organisation in order
not to mix up things, personally I do not reuse compost.

You ask about Amaryllid seedling. They very often skip the first
dormancy so watch them and keep watering and fertilizing them as long as
they remain green.

The length of the dormancy is depending on the individual plant species.
Many will show new shoots even without watering, this always is a sign
that dormancy is over for this particular bulb. This is triggered by
soil temperature in some plants, so dormancy will be much shorter in a
mild climate compared to a hot one. Some have an internal clock and will
sprout whatever the conditions are and some will be started by the first
watering. This should not be later than the beginning of October. Those
which show no sign of growth by then should be watered once and then
left alone. One drench in October supplies enough moisture to wake up a
dormant bulb and the moisture remains for quite a time. If such a late
riser is overwatered it may rot because it cannot handle so much water
at this moment.

I have looked again at your pictures: Your bulbs are in good condition.
I noticed that you have sown them very early in the season, which is
absolutely fine, they will germinate when the time has come, probably
much earlier with your climate than with mine. This means you are on the
winning side time wise, even if you stopped them by frying them
accidentally this spring. You are using different sizes and types of
pots. I think the ideal model is the tall square one. Most bulbs have
deep roots and/or bulbs. Bulging would be visible as most pots are soft,
I don't see any. The size of your seedlings is VERY good!

I will send you my contribution the the Bulb Garden about growing seeds
privately.

Here is a picture of my seed pots in the open garden, some are under the
mentioned old hotbed window.

Bye for now,

Uli