Narcissus species from seed

[Regelian]

I want to thank you all for sharing your experiences.  I'm slowly getting used to the exuberant response on this forum.  Truly stupendous.

A bit about my weather conditions.  Cologne is a Zone 8, with a wet Winter and very little snow that stays.  We typically get a deep freeze to about -7°C in January for about 1-3 weeks.  Sometimes only a few days of hard frost with constant freeze-thaw cycles over 24 hours.  Kinda miserable, to tell the truth. lat year was the exception with -15°C for three weeks.  I lost many well established shrubs as well as a few perennials. This year I am protecting my tree ferns and some of the Camelias. My Edgeworthia seemed to like the extreme cold.  It never looked better.

The lean-to is only about 1 sq. meter of space X three shelves.  South facing, but on the balcony where it is protected.  The wall where it is mounted has a heater on the inside, so there is residual heat evenings.  I suspect this is all gone by morning, as the heating shuts down as 22:00.  In general, we are not talking about too much space, but it will be dedicated to the Narcissus and a few other bulbs, such as Iris and Cyclamen.

I'm unclear as to how much cold certain Narcissus can handle, such as N. miniatus, N. viridiflorus, N. serotinus.  Presumedly, they tolerate no frost in the young stages.  Maybe I should try them indoors under lights.

[Rafa]

Jamie,

Here most of these species have germinated. N. cantabricus is easy, one month and a half or so...  but the species from pseudonarissus section need more time, with temperatures between 5º to 15º C. For example I sown N. alcaracensis 27 Setember and it has germinate masively last week. This year is not a good example because global warm is very noticeable in Spain and temperatures are still very hot in December!!.

Maybe it's too late to sow and if I were you I will keep the seed in fresh conditions until next season, or if you have a green house try to germinate a half from the seeds you have.

Species like N. viridiflorus, will germinate next september as most of Autumn narcissus.

[Gerdk]

I'm unclear as to how much cold certain Narcissus can handle, such as N. miniatus, N. viridiflorus, N. serotinus.  Presumedly, they tolerate no frost in the young stages.  Maybe I should try them indoors under lights.

Jamie,
The daffodils mentioned above don't tolerate much frost in all stages - I guess less than -3 to - 5 ° C for more than a short time will be fatal. They also need a warm and dry resting periode for building flowers.
So indoor or greenhouse cultivation is recommended.

Gerd

[JPB]

Jamie,

I keep records of what I'm doing so this may help:

Narcissus cantabricus (from Rafa, Villa del Prado 003-09) and Narcissus serotinus (from Rare-Plants Bjorn malkmus): sown Okt 15 2009 at roomtemp. and very good germination and growth under artificial light.

Narcissus varduliensis (from Rafa, Laguna de Loza): sown Okt 15 2009 at room temperature, but still not germinated. I have put them in my greenhouse with heating to avoid temps lower than 5C. These from the Pseudonarcissus-group may need some cold before germinating?

Narcissus poeticus (rare-Plants Bjorn Malkmus) Sown Aug 23 2009 and kept in my greenhouse since. No germination yet. They need some cold too? Next spring I hope.

I'm not too inclined to experiment with freezing temperatures. I hope "playing" with the conditions between 5C and 20C wil be succesful.
We're, in the same climate and latitude, so that may help. Any porous mix is fine for them so far; even the pots containing Gralux, a lime-stone addition to be able to reduce the peat content withou making the mix too gritty...

Hans

[JPB]

Jamie, I do not have good results with heating cables. A lot of trouble to get the heat where you want. Instead you can use an electric heater, coupled with a thermostate set on e.g. 0C or 5C. This works perfect for me. During most of the winter, the outside temperature is in that range so you only have to heat when it is freezing. Put a small ventilator to avoid fungi. You can even put the whole setup and put it in a unheated room or garage box. Once the seeds have germinated, I do supply artificial light during winter (11h light; 13h dark with a timer, or 10h light/14h dark). I find this necessary, as lightlevels are low at our latitudes, even in a well-lit place. I you want more details on what I use and what is most likely to be availabe in Germany too, drop me an PM and I'll give you info on brands/suppliers.

Hope this helps,
Hans

[Regelian]

A quick up-date on my seed germinating.  Seed of N. viridiflorus germinated immediately, both in a pot and in a petri dish, at room temperature.  The petri dish showed sprouting after 6 days.

N. cylamineus showed germination after about 4 weeks at room temperature, but not a massive germination, just a few came up.

N. varduliensis in a petri dish shows no sign of germination, even after a night of frost didn't push it.  I'm currently keeping it a cool room temps. (10-15°C).

None of the others show germination.

Also, I have quite a bit of N. viridiflorus seed, if anyone needs some.