We always grow an amaryllis during the Christmas season. We usually buy a "red" one, but almost always we get a light orange one. This year we got a red one named "Mammoth Red". It turn out being true to it's name and looked just like the photo. There were actually 2 blooming stalks and each stalk had 4 flowers (sorry I didn't get a photo of ours, but it really did look like the photo below). So I decided to try my luck at getting seeds. I looked at a couple of youtube videos, followed the directions, and viola! We have amaryllis sprouts!
It took 6 or 7 weeks for the seed pods to ripen, and they produced these black papery seeds.
After harvesting, the seeds were allowed to dry for 3 days and then planted. Another 3 weeks later (just like the youtube videos said), they have started sprouting. There were 7 baby amaryllis that I counted when I took this photo (can you find them all?). Now, I just have to wait 2 or 3 years to see the first blooms. This is a fun side-experiment, but not near as fun as rose breeding! So my advice to you, is consider planting amaryllis seeds, but I suspect that you will get more fun and quicker results planting rose seeds. Give it a try!
Amaryllis are a nice diversion. ;-) I tried saving seed from them in my childhood, but never had any luck getting them to grow. Maybe I should try again.
ReplyDeleteHi Darren, I'm enjoying seeing them grow. It's amazing that even as very small plants, they appear to be forming small bulbs.
DeleteI just love to take the pods apart and feel the seeds. And I love how they stack together inside the pod. But I don't love them enough to plant them. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteHi Aprille, the seeds were a surprise for me - very papery thin. I let them dry out for 3 days before planting and didn't think they would germinate since the small seeds in the center of the black papery discs seemed to dehydrate in our dry climate. But I already have 10 germinating! Somehow, I just love planting seeds….. :)
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