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   Hippeastrum       |                   Flotation method of germination

 


Sprouting Seeds


Use a clear plastic container, for which a transparent lid is available, half fill with water.
Chinese Take-away containers are perfect.
Tap water seems to work best. Sprinkle the sheathed seeds onto the surface of the water.
The seeds will naturally float towards each other. This is acceptable for them to remain touching,
however each seed should be floating directly on the water, and not resting on top of other seeds.

Place the lid on the container, but do not seal it.
The lid will help to maintain a level of humidity, but if condensation occurs on the inside of the container,
the lid should be opened further, or rotated so as to reduce the humidity.

The seeds need light to germinate, but cannot handle direct sunlight.
A window sill that does not receive sunlight is perfect.
After about two weeks, small white roots will be observed growing down from the bottom of the sheaths.
In another week or so, small grasslike leaves will be observed pushing themselves out of the sheaths.

Once the roots and leaves are both about 1 cm to 1.5cm, the seedlings can be carefully removed
from the water and placed, individually, in a seedling punnet containing normal potting soil.
Wet the soil well before transplanting, and use a toothpick to make holes into which individual roots
will be placed.

Gently pick up each seed by its leaf and settle its root into the soil. The remains of the
sheath should be resting on the surface of the soil. After all the seeds are placed, water the punnet
gently but thoroughly to encourage the soil to adhere to the roots.
Place the punnet in a clear plastic bag. Glad Snap-lock bags are the best, but don't seal it completely
as you need to continue to maintain an elevated but not saturated level of humidity until second
leaves begin to appear.

When the second leaves appear the seedlings may be hardened off by lowering the humidity and
exposing them to open air.
As it is now full summer the seedlings can be, in their tray, moved outdoors.
They cannot handle direct sunlight, and the soil must be kept moist at all times for the first summer.

Watering may be reduced slightly in Autumn

Continue growing the young bulbs outside in the summer, indoors in the winter.

Provide a MILD fertilizer, in summer and ONLY AT THE BEGINNING OF THEIR SECOND YEAR.

Do not transplant them until they become crowded for their pot; hippeastrum roots are
important to the plant, but the roots of immature bulbs are not yet sturdy and can be easily
damaged when transplanted.

In three years the bulbs will have matured sufficiently to begin blooming.