What steps did you do so far? It helps for us to know what you've done so we can make suggestions.

Julia

Julini,

I started those seeds on March 4th.

Following the directions given here, I made the 1/2 gal
water to 6 TBS Peroxide. I put them into a plastic
container and just covered the seeds [I could find no
clear cut directions on how to do this].

I soaked my seeds in the H20 and Perxoide mixture.
I changed the water every 3 days as suggested.

On March 16th, it looked like I had some germination.
A tiny white speck appeared on most all of the seeds.

At that point I dumped the peroxide water & put them
with some plain water & paper towel to keep moist.
I sat that up on top of the fridge to keep fairly
warm.

Nothing has happened yet. At a closer look those
seeds look the same as they did when I took them
out of the Peroxide water.

There is no mold or fungus on the seeds or paper
towel.

Should I just keep them moist & see what happens?

Mary

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread 2 - Who Else Is starting their daylily seeds?

I ordered seeds from two different sources. 20 seeds from one, sanded through the outer coating with an emory board, did the water/peroxide soak for 48 hours and planted them in a damp seed starting mix. Only 1 came up. The other order had 30 seeds, I did the same thing except I left them in the water/peroxide soak until they put out little rootlets. Then planted them as before. Got about 60% to come up. This is my first try with seeds.

Gosh, y'all go to a lot of effort. Mary, this is my fourth year growing seedlings, so I am no expert, but I am happy with my results.

If the seeds still seem viable, here's what I would do. Find your sunniest window (west or south facing). Plant in Pro Mix in a pot on a saucer. Put a marker in it, so you know what you have.

Bottom water in the saucer....if the seeds are viable, you should see something, probably in 10-21 days (as discussed on another thread!)...but some can take longer. I usually allow 30 days.

Good luck....when I first started growing them, I only had my windows, no shelves. It worked fine.

Good luck!

I'm not sure why you wrapped them in papertowels but if they did germinate (ie radicle/white nub is showing)then I would have planted them. I also use promix but you can also use miracle grow seed starter. Just DON'T use potting soil.

Julia

Marvine,
Seems like everyone has better luck than I do.
I thought for sure that this attempt, I would actually
have some luck.

Gone Gardening,

I am really discoraged trying to germinate seeds.
The first seeds I direct sowed into my garden bed.
No luck at all. I figured, I would have better
luck following everyones directions to the T.

Maybe I missed the "T" part.

Juliany,

A paper tpwel seemed like the best way to keep them
moist. I may have jumped the gun by not waiting
for a little "sproutlet" to actually emerge.

I don't know if I can find Pro Mix here, but have
heard of it before. All of my seeds have just a little
white dot at the end. But no sproutlet. So now what?

Do I just quit? Can I assume that maybe my seeds were
no good to begin with? Well, maybe not, they did
have a dot of white at the end. Maybe it is just my
method. I hate to buy seeds only to fail over & over
again. Even the worst gardener should have at least
one little seed germinate, dontcha think??
So frustrating!

Mary

Mary, you can get pro mix at Wal Mart now. Lowe's has a good mixture too called Jungle Growth. That's my favorite. Sometime as I did this year, I nearly threw out the pots of soil because I didn't see growth after 3 weeks or more. Then I found as I started digging it out that the babies were beginning to immerge. Fortunately, I hadn't done any damage yet! Don't give up because it really is a thrill to see your first seedlings grow!!! Ellie

My observation is that seeds seem to fall into 3 germination categories: 1) instant germination w/in 24 hours of getting moisture 2) average germination 3-20 days 3) dormant seeds that require special measures to get them to germinate.

This can be true of all the seeds in a cross or just some of them.

To stratify dormant seeds & break dormancy, soak them in peroxide (for a few days if they are very dry) until they are well hydrated, then drain off excess peroxide and put them either in dampened vermiculum or onto damp paper towel/coffee filter in the plastic bag with them, then refrigerate while damp for a minimum of 6 weeks (dry refrigeration won't count in this time). Then try to germinate in your preferred method. Any that don't germinate w/in 3 weeks should go back into the fridge treatment for one or two weeks. Some dormant seeds seem to respond even to daily cycles of refrigeration/warmth.

Some experiments have suggested that plain water can actually inhibit germination. 10% peroxide solution as you used is recommended.

I've had dormant seeds that took 8-11 months to germinate and some that never do.

I have a large batch of dormant seeds this year (>120 out of around 800 seeds that I started with) and it varies from 1 or 2 in a cross to nearly all the seeds of a cross.

Berrytea,

Thank You for your seed observations.

I decided to put the seeds back in the fridge and added
some peroxide water with the paper towel I already had
after I took them out.

I know I don't have the patience to wait 8-11 months
for seed.

I had my seeds in dry refrigeration since September, and
took them out in March. Maybe they needed to soak longer?

I didn't want to ruin them as suggested by someone
with the peroxide eating away at the newly developed
spout. So I took them out when I saw the tiny white
speck. Not sproutlett.

I am glad to know that I can re-refrigerate them
again.

Oh, and is there a reason, not to put sproutletts in
potting soil?
Just curious why.

Thanks,
Mary

Ellie,

Unfortunately any walmarts are about an hour and a half
away. Maybe I can find some locally. People seem to really
like the Pro Mix stuff.

I bought a big bag of MG potting mix and I do not like it!
Too much sticks, roots, rocks and pieces of wood chips in
it.
I ended up putting some cheap DG potting mix in with it.
It gave me a better consistancy.

I guess waiting longer than 3 weeks seems to be the
key with DL seeds. Or longer! I hope I don't get
so frustrated I quit and move on to something easier.
I really, really want some more daylilies, but I don't
want to pay the hefty price for the plants.

Mary

This is my first year of starting seeds. I tried a number of different methods and had decent success with all. Here is the data from my spreadsheet. First column seednumber 18 different crosses. Second column how long to see growth. Third column what the were started in. When I start seeds next year I will probably start them directly in 20 oz cups.

Number Days Started In
LA001-001 6 APS24
LA001-002 6 APS24
LA001-003 APS24
LA001-004 6 APS24
LA001-005 6 APS24
LA001-006 6 APS24
LA001-007 APS24
LA002-001 13 APS24
LA002-002 APS24
LA002-003 14 APS24
LA002-004 13 APS24
LA003-001 APS24
LA003-002 22 APS24
LA003-003 15 APS24
LA004-001 APS24
LA004-002 13 APS24
LA004-003 13 APS24
LA004-004 11 APS24
LA005-001 15 APS24
LA005-002 15 APS24
LA005-003 15 APS24
LA006-001 15 APS24
LA006-002 15 APS24
LA006-003 14 APS24
LA007-001 12 20 oz Cups
LA007-002 14 20 oz Cups
LA007-003 16 20 oz Cups
LA007-004 20 oz Cups
LA007-005 16 20 oz Cups
LA007-006 15 20 oz Cups
LA007-007 15 20 oz Cups
LA008-001 11 20 oz Cups
LA008-002 12 20 oz Cups
LA008-003 14 20 oz Cups
LA008-004 14 20 oz Cups
LA008-005 14 20 oz Cups
LA009-001 13 Paper Towel
LA009-002 10 Paper Towel
LA009-003 13 Paper Towel
LA009-004 11 Paper Towel
LA009-005 13 Paper Towel
LA009-006 13 Paper Towel
LA009-007 13 Paper Towel
LA009-008 14 Paper Towel
LA009-009 13 Paper Towel
LA010-001 10 Paper Towel
LA010-002 9 Paper Towel
LA010-003 14 Paper Towel
LA010-004 14 Paper Towel
LA010-005 Paper Towel
LA011-001 Peroxide
LA011-002 17 Peroxide
LA011-003 Peroxide
LA011-004 Peroxide
LA012-001 10 Peroxide
LA012-002 9 Peroxide
LA012-003 10 Peroxide
LA012-004 10 Peroxide
LA012-005 10 Peroxide
LA012-006 14 Peroxide
LA013-001 9 Peroxide
LA013-002 8 Peroxide
LA013-003 12 Peroxide
LA013-004 9 Peroxide
LA013-005 9 Peroxide
LA013-006 9 Peroxide
LA013-007 8 Peroxide
LA014-001 ? 13 Peroxide
LA014-002 Peroxide
LA014-003 Peroxide
LA014-004 Peroxide
LA014-005 Peroxide
LA015-001 13 Peroxide
LA015-002 11 Peroxide
LA015-003 11 Peroxide
LA015-004 19 Peroxide
LA015-005 Peroxide
LA016-001 17 Peroxide Rocks
LA016-002 17 Peroxide Rocks
LA016-003 17 Peroxide Rocks
LA016-004 17 Peroxide Rocks
LA016-005 17 Peroxide Rocks
LA016-006 Peroxide Rocks
LA017-001 17 Peroxide Rocks
LA017-002 17 Peroxide Rocks
LA017-003 17 Peroxide Rocks
LA017-004 Peroxide Rocks
LA017-005 Peroxide Rocks
LA017-006 Peroxide Rocks
LA018-001 7 Peroxide
LA018-002 7 Peroxide
LA018-003 10 Peroxide
LA018-004 11 Peroxide
LA018-005 7 Peroxide
LA018-006 7 Peroxide
LA018-007 Peroxide
12 Average Days
76 Germinated
96 Planted
79% %

HI Ks St Fan!
Yay by the way! lol

I moved things apart a little to see if I
am looking at the chart right.
The number is LA001-001 ? with the dash?
I added the asterisk by days and started in....

Can I ask what APS 24 is?

You have had seeds start in as little as
6 days?

I also see some with no days? Lines 3,7 & 9 ? Or
have they not sprouted and you don't have results?
Please tell me if I am reading your chart right.

Number **Days Started In

LA001-001 **6 APS24

Thanks,
Mary

Yes

LA001 is the cross -001 is the seed number

The ones at 6 days sprouted in the fridge.

Ones with no days did not sprout after 30 days and I gave up. When I emptied the cup one of them had a root an inch long but now leaves.

APS24 is a seed starting system that I got from garden supply company.

KS St Fan,
You have quite an extensive and well organized chart.
Wow!

I am going to give my seeds a bit longer and see
about moving them into some time.

The other question I am going to ask is:
Are you keeping the seeds cold?
Are part under grow lights?
The seeds you have with peroxide and in paper towels,
are they in your fridge?

Thanks,
Mary

I don't have the time or patience of most folks here, so the handful of daylily seeds that I harvested were treated the same way as my pepper and tomato seeds. I planted them on February 28th in potting mix in little peat pots after storing them in a plastic bag in the fridge for about 4 months. I used a warming mat at first, but turned it off after most seeds started (about a week ). I haven't had tremendous success - I planted eight seeds and only three appear to have sprouted. BUT, of those three, two just appeared yesterday! I'm thrilled, but my point to you is - keep them moist and give them time. All evidence here indicates that some daylily seeds are just slow.

I see you followed the method I use, up to a point. But -- I do not dump the distilled water/peroxide solution out when I take them out of the refrigerator.

(Also, I do not change the solution every three days until after I take them out of refrigeration.)

When I take my seeds out of the refrigerator, I put them (still in solution in their ziplock bags) in a dark closet (very important). About four days later, most of my seeds have sprouted. You can clearly see the white root protuding - it isn't just a little white spot. I get my styrofoam cups ready, and only then do I remove from solution those seeds that have clearly sprouted. I plant these right away in the cups filled with moistened potting soil.

(Drain holes have been punched in the bottom and along the sides of the cups at the bottom ahead of time. Before planting the seeds, I write with a Sharpy pen the details of the cross, mark the spots where I've planted each seed along the rim of the cup, and write the date each seed was planted. I slip a loose-fitting sandwich bag over each cup until they begin to grow green leaves.Once the day's sprouted seeds have been planted, I set the cups in aluminum foil roasting pans and add water in the bottom of the pan. I do not top-water the seedlings.)

I have learned that by making shallow depressions in the potting soil and not covering the seeds, they tend to grow faster. Once they send up green shoots, I sift fine potting soil over the root part to keep it covered, and fill up the depressions around the young seedling.

I check every day or so on the seeds still in the closet.

The "rocks" method seems very interesting, but seeing as I'm lazy, I don't want to have to plant a seed twice.

I don't live in a cold climate, nor do I have grow lights. My seedlings are put out on the porch where they can get some morning sun as soon as they have sent up green shoots. Once they have grown their second set of leaves, I then begin bottom-watering them with a weak (1/2 strength) solution of Schultz's Expert Plant Food and water.

When you live in colder climates, other methods have to be employed and work fine.

Some people just plant them in the ground with great success!

I've planted seeds four days after harvest with no pre-soaking, and that worked fine. I've planted them without refrigerating them for six weeks first, and that was O.K., but the germination rate was not so good.

I suggest you experiment and find the method that works best for you.

Nancy