I found many articles in the web which pretend that floating is THE common and practical method for sowing the papery-foiled seeds of amaryllid's plants. It seems that this numerously glorified method is becoming the amaryllid's cultivation myth of the new century. I disagree and oppose against this method, which involves a tedious/laborious/cumbersome procedure in the very moment when the seedlings have to be transplanted into a solid medium. I tried floatin' - once; (regardless to being already against my conviction, I ADMIT). The germination rate was good, but not better than in FRESHLY prepared coco peat substrate prepared from coco bricks. And the transplantation was terrible, exactly as I had expected. No, never again. No one who has to sow hundreds or even thousands of hippeastrum (gardener's amaryllis) seeds per anno can honestly recommend this method nor can he practice it- he will get crazy. I sow into freshly recontituted coco peat substrate, and I put every single seed, one beside another with blunt tweezers into slits formed with a ruler. This is the most accurate and yes, rather rapid method. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/… http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/… http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/… Now, as the kids have already fallen into the sink I recommend a very carefull transplantation of the floating kids - pardon: Seedlings - into freshly prepared coco peat substrate without any further additives. The box should preferably have numerous drainage holes and further include a THICK drainage layer of expanded clay bullets or something similar. When the seedlings are all into then the substrate should be thoroughly but carefully be watered with a fine hotspur. At least the surface of the substrate should completely dry out between the subsequent waterings, and watering - with lukewarm water and diluted fertilizer every time - should be very thorough again. I recommend a volume which is roughly equivalent to the total substrate volume including the drainage layer (!) Hans-Werner
