On 6 Oct 04 at 22:18, Jay Yourch wrote: > Here is my BX report. > Seeds of Cyclamen creticum - direct sown in garden, no sign yet but must look > again soon. > Seeds of Cyclamen pseuibericum - direct sown in garden, no sign yet but must > look again soon. Cyclamen pseudibericum is the showiest of all cyclamen species. Only the fancy florists' cultivars outshine it. I have a big patch and it is one of the seasonal spectacles in my garden. Here's how I sow cyclamen seeds: First, soak them in water with a drop or two of dish detergent added until they plump up. This takes a couple of days or so. You can continue soaking them for even a couple of weeks if you change the water and rinse the seeds whenever it becomes cloudy, but I don't think a long soak is really any more beneficial. I sow them in "standard seed mix" with a heaping teaspoon of lime (ground limestone or agricultural lime) mixed into each 4" pot. The pot is filled with dryish soil and tamped down. Seeds are sprinkled on the surface and again tamped. A top dressing of about 1/2" of fine gravel is put over them. They are then watered well and put in a coldframe for shelter from the elements and various pests. Germination in the spring when mature plants leaf out. I generally keep the seedlings in the pot for a year or two after germination. The little pearl-like seedling tubers you get the first year are too prone to desiccation to be planted out directly in the garden. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime zone 8, cool Mediterranean climate