Several folks have commented on the recent TOW that they bear in mind the plants natural habitat/climate when choosing composts and conditions for seed sowing and germination. I would strongly agree that this is vital when considering growing conditions for plants and bulbs once they have become established (in this case established can mean as soon as you move them from their seed pots). However, I find it is less important when considering seed sowing media, and all of my seeds are sown on the same medium and given the same very basic treatment. This standardization saves a huge amount of time and also makes it easier to grow the bulbs on as they are all in the same size pots and compost, hence they dry out at roughly the same rate. The ability to water correctly is probably the hardest skill to acquire and responsible for most losses. The absolute requirement is good drainage, after this it probably doesn't make a lot of difference what is in the compost as long as it is amenable to the plants and you are comfortable with its properties when it comes to watering and feeding. I use 3 1/2" or 4 1/2" Kordlok pots for bulbs because of their extra depth, and fill them to within 1/2" of the rim with a 5050 mixture of BioComp BC5 compost (coarse grade composted peanut hulls and bark) and supercoarse perlite. Seeds are sown as soon as available on the surface then the pot filled to rim with starter grade granite grit (poultry grit). After watering overhead they go onto the floor of my small greenhouse until they germinate - they will get to or just below 32F but won't freeze through, the latter is detrimental even to emerging seedlings of 'hardy' bulbs. After germination they come into my bigger greenhouse where they won't get below around 40F but they get excellent light and ventilation. Most bulbs stay in their seed pots for a minimum of two years. Most waterings, except the first few that wake them up in the fall, include weak fertilizer from an in-line feeder (EZGrow). Most of my bulbs are summer dormant so they go to sleep usually in May, after which point they are kept completely dry until they are woken up in mid-September when we have cooled down a little. Newly germinated seedlings are kept growing as long as possible their first year by keeping as cool as possible, often with more shade than they would get when mature. Watering any sooner than mid-September (here on the east coast) risks significant root and bulb rot. I never soak seeds or pre-/post-treat in any way and am very satisfied with the germination rates I get. Sowing around 400 pots a year usually means I get 300 pots germinated, and once you get into the swing there are so many new flowers each year that it really doesn't matter if germination could have been hurried along a little sooner. Pre-treatments certainly can and do work but I figure their main merit is in commercial growing when very rapid and uniform germination is an absolute requirement. I grow a very wide variety of bulbs from seed and don't have any particular genera that just flatly refuse to behave, although Juno and Onco irises can be delayed and sporadic germinators. Colchicum can also be frustrating and, with the exception of kesselringii, seem to give relatively poor results. I also have a question. Should seed of things like Crocus be allowed to dry out during the summer if they don't germinate the first season (usually because sown too late) ? I tend to keep all my seed pots moist year-round but always find in the fall a fairly small proportion of pots in which the seeds have rotted during the summer. I never know whether this is because the seed was too wet (and hot) or whether it was no good in the first place. Older seed is more prone to this, and the fact that most pots are just fine would make me think it is better to keep them moist. The danger of keeping them dry for several months would be that seed of plants like Trilliums, Erythroniums and other such things would become inviable or inhibited further from germination. As an aside, I have just had a pot full of Fritillaria striata seed germinate. This seems very early but may fit in with its life cycle in habitat. Can anyone comment please ? Best, J. Dr John T Lonsdale 407 Edgewood Drive, Exton, Pennsylvania 19341, USA Phone 610 594 9232 Fax 801 327 1266 Visit "Edgewood" - The Lonsdale Garden at http//http://www.johnlonsdale.net/ Zone 6b