sowing Narcissus Cyclamineus

[Webster008]

Have been trying to find information on sowing Narcissus Cyclamineus, however I can't find much information.

Does anybody have any tips on how and when to sow Narc Cyclamineus ?

[annew]

Hello, Rick. I was lucky to have a lot of fresh seeds last year, and sowed them immediately - some in a pond basket plunged in the ground, and some in a pot, put into a shady frame. Both lots of seeds were sown 3cm deep, as Ian tells us to do. I hope they will grow well, but will report on germination later in the year.

[Maggi Young]

 Bulb Logs which might help....  http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2004/020604/log.html
http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2005/140605/log.html

[Lesley Cox]

I get some seed from mine most years and sow them - not always fresh - on top of my usual seed mix (which is my usual potting mix) and cover with about 1.5cm of grit. They invariably germinate quite quickly and well, i.e. every seed germinates. They also take just a couple or 2 1/2 years to flower. One of the easiest and best from seed.

[johnw]

Best for us is to sow absolutely fresh about 1cm or more deep and we must keep the medium evenly moist throughoput the summer. They sprout in late winter in the greenhouse.  Outdoors they seem to prefer heavy constantly moist soil.  I often wonder if they have a stag-resistant gene?  I lose them if I fail to water the potted dormant ones every so often throughout the summer. We transplant after the second year and repot deeper.

I tried storing them in dry sand but they all failed. Moist sand stratification - at least for us - might work.

They never set seed no matter how often we give the flowers a flick. They must be hand-pollinated with pollen of a different plant to produce seed in the greenhouse.

johnw

[Maggi Young]

Ian puts ours a lot deep as Anne says  : 3 to 5 cms 

[johnw]

Ian puts ours a lot deep as Anne says  : 3 to 5 cms 

Right again, I was thinking inches. Imperial still lies semi-dormant in my brain.

johnw

[ian mcenery]

Have been trying to find information on sowing Narcissus Cyclamineus, however I can't find much information.

Does anybody have any tips on how and when to sow Narc Cyclamineus ?

Rick in my garden these manage to seed themselves and normally do well, in fact some years ago they became a bit of a nuisance and I thinned them out not knowing at the time how expensive they had become . The main reason for them doing well was that I am lucky and have a slightly acidic soil which seldon drys out completely. I think that these conditions are the key  as I know a number of growers locally who have the same experience and it definitely is not down to skill but to conditions. Although I can agree that deeply sown seed is the way forward in pots if you have the right conditions and plenty of seed you might try sowing some directly into the soil for more rapid results

[annew]

Plenty of choices there, then!

[Darren]

Best for us is to sow absolutely fresh about 1cm or more deep and we must keep the medium evenly moist throughoput the summer. They sprout in late winter in the greenhouse.  Outdoors they seem to prefer heavy constantly moist soil.  I often wonder if they have a stag-resistant gene?  I lose them if I fail to water the potted dormant ones every so often throughout the summer. We transplant after the second year and repot deeper.

I tried storing them in dry sand but they all failed. Moist sand stratification - at least for us - might work.


johnw

Agreed - I've never had any germination from either commercial or exchange seed of this species. (Nor N. pseudonarcissus or it's forms for that matter). In the end I bought bulbs in growth in pots from different sources and cross-pollinated them. The fresh seed produced germinated very well if sown straight away or stored slightly moist and sown in autumn.

[Webster008]

Thanks to everybody for the advice.

I'll sow some seeds this weekend. Would it be wise to keep the sown seeds inside or should I place them in a coldframe outside?
At present the temperature is about -10 degrees.

[Darren]

Thanks to everybody for the advice.

I'll sow some seeds this weekend. Would it be wise to keep the sown seeds inside or should I place them in a coldframe outside?
At present the temperature is about -10 degrees.

I suspect you will get different answers to this. If it were me I would keep them inside for at least a few days as they will not take up water if frozen. I think -10 is a bit severe anyway and I'd be tempted to keep them inside until things warm up a little - but maybe that is just me. You may not get any germination this season and the seed may wait until next autumn/winter before germinating.

As has been noted on the forum before: Narcissus seedlings are very frost tender and will not survive being frozen - so as soon as you detect germination bring the pots into a frost-free area again.

[Webster008]

OK, thanks Darren.