I am not a big daylily breeder.......just a guy who enjoys plants of all types on a small lot. Anyway I have a couple daylily I have cross pollinated and saved seeds. I start mine in potting mix, in a zip-loc bag, under fluorescent lights. I usually start a bunch of seeds in one pot......say a dozen seeds in a 3.5" plastic pot. After the seedlings are up and well established I separate them into their own small pots in fresh soil. You can put these in individual plastic bags too if you have the room. Gradually open the top of the bags and harden the seedlings off a bit. They are usually nice size to plant out by late Spring. BTW plastic drinking cups make inexpensive pots! It is easy and fun and exciting when you see the first blooms!

I start mine about the end of January, I have them started already. I start them in Pro Mix in individual plastic cups, I prefer the clear ones because I can see the roots growing . I plant several seeds per cup. Once they've germinated I move them to their own cups and place them in a water bath, I use a Rubbermaid container or shoe box for this. Each cup needs drainage holes so the plant can take up water. I leave about 1" water in it at all times, do not allow it to dry out! I add slow release fertilizer to the new cups but I guess you could add it to the water. I then harden the plants off, plant out in May and they usually flower for me the next summer. I've done this the past 3 years and had very good success doing it this way. Marg

Thanks for the info, everyone! I've watched the YouTube videos about starting them in the ZipLoc bags and was leaning that way. It will be fun to see what they turn out to be when they bloom next summer.

I just plant mine right in the garden in late summer as soon as I harvest them. They will come up the next spring with no muss or fuss. I get the best germination that way. After a year or so I transplant them farther apart.
Northwoodswis

32 cell Rootmaker trays are what I'm using. I use Rootmaker for all seed types. 16 cells for larger seeds such as oak/hickory.

Doesn't matter what you grow, you'll have the best root-systems when compared to any other method to start seeds/cuttings.

This is a boxwood cutting after started in a 32 cell rootmaker flat and then to a 4" rose pot for the remainder of year one - and beginning year two bumped to a one gallon pot with the insides painted with boat/marine paint which contains copper.

The copper in marine paint stops all roots from circling and forces them to grow straight down.

This cutting is 3-years old and began ~4-6".

Priority #1 is always the roots no matter what you may be growing.

Dax

I've had results starting them in an old food container with a lid … just some moist peat moss. When they start to pop, I'll put 2-4 in a pot to pot them up.

Same with cannas, except I soak them in water in a glass after I scarify the seeds.

Lilies same as blackberry lilies.

Peony seeds get scarified, soaked for several weeks, and then put in a baggie w/ soil and popped in the crisper in the fridge.

I do my jack-in-the pulpit similarly: baggie in the fridge. They need to be 'shocked' into doing something. Then you can pot them up when roots appear, and then shock them again in the fridge, tricking two seasons of growth in one year if you time everything right.

Have fun, it is.

dave

I have started some daylily seeds already. Well, they started themselves more or less . I keep my seeds in a mini fridge and every year around this time I check them and inevitably some have started sprouting on their own so I have no choice but to start them. I grow in coir. It is made from ground up coconut hulls. I love the stuff ! I no longer get fungus gnat larva who chew the plants at the soil line or the little flys ( the gnats themselves) so no one laying eggs. There is no organic matter so the little critters wont lay their eggs cuz there is nothing for the larva to eat so they just are no longer a problem. Roots don't get drowned like they used to when I used potting mix. The roots are able to get oxygen and so don't rot even sitting in water . I hate to think how many seedlings I lost before I discovered coir !

I have even had seedlings in a container of coir that never got planted out in the garden but sat in the box all summer and then got left out over winter in bitter cold and little snow ...plants do exceedlingly well even in those conditions in the coir .There are many ways that people use to germinate the seeds . You just have to find the one that suits your needs and is successful for you . It will become an obsession and each and every seedling will become one of your "babies" and will reward you with blooms that no one else in the world will have . LOL !

Have fun!

Signet

I found something that worked well for me this year. After soaking seeds in hydrogen peroxide and distilled water, and when the radicle[nub] appeared, I put these in a round cotton pad soaked in the peroxide water, folded it in half and put it in a small marked baggie found in the craft section at Walmart. Then put all the baggies in a clear container in a bright window, checking after 3-4 days. When they started showing green leaves, I potted them up. This worked really well for me.

Judith

Thanks, Judith... I've read about this method before. Already put mine up in perlite but will see how your bethod works next year for me. Thanks!!

Patent on gravity.

Dax

Interesting! What kind of seeds are these?

Firs.

Dax