I can't speak to a gnat problem, I've had 100% germination with seeds placed on top of a well draining seedling/potting medium. Sounds like your epiphyte house would be perfect for these winter growers. Most of mine germinated inside under lights, but they will be moved out to a cool house position soon. Robert cool foggy San Francisco, even indoors is only cool tropical On Mon, Nov 2, 2020 at 1:17 PM Robert Lauf via pbs < pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > Hi Bruce, > I germinate a lot of seeds in perlite in disposable "tupperware" type > containers, where I can provide 100% humidity without standing water and > without the gnat larvae and other things that often come along in pro-mix. > The bugs can wreak havoc on things like calla, where they bore in as soon > as a root pops through the seed coat and proceed to hollow out the whole > thing. > The perlite also makes it easy to lift the seedlings out without any root > damage so they can easily be moved to individual pots. I use this method > exclusively for my Eucomis crosses. > Do you think this method might work for Haemanthus? My epiphyte house > routinely gets into the low 50s F in winter, but I can easily do the > germination indoors on a sunny windowsill. > Bob Zone 7 in East Tennessee > On Monday, November 2, 2020, 03:53:06 PM EST, Bruce Schroder via pbs < > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > > Dr Bob has asked if I could share advice on external stimulus for seed > germination and planting of Haemanthus coccineus as it would be a great > help to his seed recipients. > > As previously advised, the seed germinates *without* external stimulus so > it could simply be left on the kitchen bench and in a number of weeks a > small radicle (the first root) would begin to protrude from the seed. If > left on the bench, this radicle would continue to elongate, using up the > stored energy of the seed. It will even develop its first small leaf but > at some point this stored energy will be depleted and unless the root is > carefully embedded into growing media where new sources of energy can be > accessed, it will simply wither away. > > Rather than leave the seeds on the bench, it is probably better to plant > them on the surface of the growing media immediately upon receipt! The > same germination process will occur but in this instance, the radicle will > "magically" grow downwards toward the growing media , even if it initially > protrudes from the top of the seed. It is best to plant the seed by > pushing it into the surface of the growing media, leaving it just exposed > rather than covered. Young seedlings should be allowed to develop in the > seed raising community pot for at least 2-3 years before being separated > out during their summer dormancy and potted individually. Under ideal > growing conditions they can be ready to flower in 5-6 years from seed > sowing. > > H coccineus is a winter grower and will not tolerate temperatures much > lower than 5C although once mature, very short periods below this may be > tolerated. > > Bruce Schroder > Melbourne, Australia > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>