early germination of fritillaria

[cliffhirst]

i have several pots of fritillaria which have germoinated. the seed was sown in september 2007. i have removed them from my cold frame and placed them in my cold greenhouse. please advise if my actions are ok if not what should i be doing

[Ian Y]

Cliff it is always difficult when frit seeds germinate before winter has passed.
You have taken them into your cold greenhouse which is a good move but your problems will be the cold and damp of the winter which often leads to high losses from rotting off.
Keep as much ventilation as possible to minimise this.

[David Shaw]

Cliff
I would consider moving them back to the frame and keeping the cover partly raised.
Most of our bulb seedlings stay outdoors. I have some sheets of glass and rigid plastic that I slot into  fence giving cover above the pots but allowing plenty of circulation round about.

[Maggi Young]

Good luck with your frit "babies" , Cliff. Good to have you posting on the Forum

[Gene Mirro]

I have a fluorescent light setup in my cool basement.  That is where I would put them.  I would grow them as normal for bulb seedlings, with occasional feeding, etc.  The problem comes when they go dormant.  They will need some warm dry dormancy, followed by several months of cold dormancy, before they will grow again.  So they could end up way out of sync with the natural climate outdoors.  Most people do not want to deal with all that fuss. 

If you place them outdoors, you must not give the slugs a chance to get to them.