Basement Happenings

With all of these spring plantings I am doing, I haven't done anything in the basement. My amaryllis are so dry and so are my seedlings. Since it is raining and I can not plant the remaining lily bulbs I have, I spent sometime down in the basement. I have a few surprises like the amaryllis seedpods that are ready to be harvested, a blooming amaryllis and the lily scales produced some bulblets.


These are my Lilium Formosanum and Hippeastrum Striatum seedlings. The lily seedlings are about a year old and the amaryllis seedlings are about 6 months old. They are in a communal tray due to space problem.


In my older post, I sowed some lily seeds from Dr. Griesbach. Only one tray germinated and here it is. The seeds in the two trays rotted off and I think it is due to damping-off. These seedlings need to be transferred to a deeper pot since lilies have contractile roots and they pull themselves down.


This tray contains the seeds I got when I joined the North American Lily Society. This is an experiment. I have read that the coco coir is good for seed germination. I tried it for my self. Out of 20 seeds, 17 germinated and 2 withered. Good germination rate.


These are my L. Philippinense seedlings. One day, when they were a few days old, I left them in the windowsill and the sun was so hot they withered. I only have two seedlings left.


These are Asiatic lily seeds. I simply use them for the coco coir experiment and the germination rate again is good. So yes, it is true that the coco coir is good for seed germination.


I tried my hand with lily scaling. These are mixed OT lily bulb scales. I was so excited when I opened the bag and saw the scales produced bulblets.


Before planting my L. Hansonii from my Lily Society, I scaled it off. Out of 5 scales, this is the only one that produced bulblets. I scaled the bulb on March 26th.


On my previous post, I crossed my cybister 'Rosario' with 'Lima'. The seedpods are ready to be harvested now. The amaryllis cross with crocus was a failure.


I hope the seeds in these pods are all viable. Not chaffs.


This one too is from a previous post. My amaryllis 'Sydney' attacked by NBF, Look at the bulblet. Isn't it neat?


Another bulb attacked by NBF. It produced two bulblets.


When I found my 'Royal Velvet' last week eaten by the larva, it made me want to give up growing amaryllis.


And lastly, my Orange Sovereign is blooming. Big, bright orange flowers on a very tall scape.