My very first seedling, ever. Been in our insulated garage (average temp 38 to mid 40's) since 1/21. Maybe you don't need a fridge to cold/moist strat? This is a Daredevil cross purchased on the LA. Now in house under T5 light. So excited!

Congratulations! No, you don't need a fridge as long as the temperature is between 32 and 50F (0-10C) for a few weeks. But some daylily seeds will germinate quickly even if you don't stratify.

Sue, I've read everything you've shared about seed starting. And the links you've posted. Kept me from learning thru mistakes. Not a horrible way to learn, mind you, but these seeds are very dear to me, hate to lose any thru ignorance.. So, just want you know how much I appreciate your
input/experience.

I would like to add that we all do Sue.

, Sue, your knowledge is invaluable!

Conrats Tina : )
New seedlings (especially the first ones ) are so exciting...
My cats ate my first ones-
Thankfully, they were Stella bee pods so I wasn't crying over anything but the experience...
I have some Daredevils ones I'm waiting to start as I have the ones that sprouted in the fridge under my one grow light.

Hazelcrestmikeb said:I would like to add that we all do Sue.

Well, there are 5 more showing this morning, out of three different crosses. Happy me! Brought the two oldest trays in, the better to watch them.

Congrats! I'm excited for you. I'm gonna give it a try myself next winter.

14 seedlings so far. Way more fun than watching grass grow.

Congratulations on your seedlings, Tina.

beenthere said: Way more fun than watching grass grow.

Even though it looks a lot like watching the grass grow! (at least at the beginning...) .

Yep, they do look kinda grassy. But I have visions of those pretty flower faces to come! I have nearly 500 seed planted, thanks to the amazing generosity of the LA hybridizers. I should feel overwhelmed. But I don't. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

lol, one seed or seedling at a time... I don't have that many to start, but enough to keep me busy for the season. Can't wait to see the fruits of your labors as they bloom : )

Well, there are 45 seedlings so far. And I, of course have some questions. How do you identify true leaves. This one appears to have three leaves starting? Is that right? Or is this still all seed leaf?

The shortest is a kind of sheath and the longer leaves are true leaves. The "seed leaf" (cotyledon) in daylilies stays inside the seed, it never sees the light of day.

These are Mirror Shades X Baby Blue Eyes. Out of 20 seeds, 19 have germinated, with 4 being obvious albinos. To me this means both parents are heterozygous for Albinism, or however you want to call it. So, would it be wise to avoid doing sibling crosses in the future, for these seedlings? Daylilies are so fascinating!

Thank you, Susan! Another question, if you will. These are in straight vermiculite. I saw your experiment and did some reading, seemed the best way to go. I know that feeding after the true leaves appear is advised. Would you add fert at this point? These seedlings are all of 4 days old! Don't want to kill them.

I've had them grow a month in plain vermiculite without any feeding. There should be enough nutrition in the seeds to sustain them for that long, after that go ahead and use a weak fertilizer. Eventually, though, you'll want to put them in potting mix and that usually has some fertilizer in it that will last a while (should say on the package).