Am I doing well with Haemanthus seed?

[Cris]

Hi

My Haemanthus coccienus gave me one seed.
I cleaned it and sow.
I intent to keep the soil moist, but it's difficult. Shall I cover it?
Would apreciate very much some advices to can make it germinate.
Tanks
Cris

[Lesley Cox]

My instinct would be to cover it with some grit, perhaps about .5 of a centimetre depth. However, I haven't grown this from seed myself. I wonder if the seed would soon turn into a small bulb, as Nerines and related plants do, if left uncovered. If the bulb is normally grown fully or partially above the compost level, it may well do that.

[Paul T]

Cris,

In all seriousness, put your seed into an envelope and store it somewhere warm.  Check it regularly.  It will start germinating by itself and you would eventually end up with a small bulb if you left it there in the envelope.  I mislaid some Haemanthus albiflos seed for 3 months at one point, each seed had produced a radical and formed a little bulb.  They were just sitting there waiting for light and water etc.  I find that the success rate for germination of most Haemanthus is better this way than if you collect the seed and sow it normally.  I find that more rot if they're in contact with water, whereas in an envelope or paper bag the only ones that rot are those that weren't viable in the first place.  I find the perfect conditions for germinating Haemanthus is in transit in the mail from wherever you have bought them.    Rarely have I ever received Haemanthus seed in the mail that hasn't started germinating. 

Good luck.  It's exciting, but will take somewhere in the vicinity of 6 years-ish to flower.  It has those wonderfully cool pair of leaves though, so the flowering is just a bonus! 

[massonia]

Hi Cris,
I was first growing H. coccineus from seeds last year, I also harvested some seeds this year and I am doing as following:
Take the same soil as normally used for Haemanthus, put some grit on the top and bury the seeds only by half in the grit. They should still be visible, as for my opinion, they need light to germinate! After a month or so they will produce a root and soon after that a shoot, then you can start to bury them if needed.
Dont give them too much moisture! Good luck!
massonia

[Paul T]

Definitely if you're sowing them into a pot I would leave the seed half exposed, I certainly wasn't questioning that.  I have just found that they seem to germinate very happily in an envelope which is why I suggested it.  If sowing direct (and I have done so) I did as Massonia did, although I didn't use the grit, just pushed them halfway into the surface of the mix.

[Cris]

Hi Lesley, Paul T, Massonia
tanks to all for your advices.
Paul, I've also received germinated seeds of amaryllidacea.
I has the litle seed in the pot, than I saw Paul response (sorrey for don't reply before), and puted the seed inside an envelope.
I was away from home for a few days, and when I arrived, I was looking for the seed. It was on the same. And the bigger problem is that here now is not much heat.
By the same time, I collected the 2nd seed, and also to the envelope
Well, with fear that they don´t germinate that way, I returned to the little pot. The two seeds are half exposed, with no water, just covered by a transparent film.
Shall I gave them a little humidity? Or it's maybe not good idea?
I'm already very confusing