I haven't been chatting here for some time but will add my 2 cents. My goal was to see bloom as soon as possible and I can be obsessive.......I gathered my seed as the pods matured in the fall. I let the seed dry for a few weeks on paper plates and then in late Oct or early November I soaked them for a few days in luke warm water in plastic cups, changing the water daily. After a week or so of soaking I dumped the seeds on to several thickness of paper towel, folded in to a packet, moistened it, folded the packet into a square of aluminum foil, labeled with the cross, put the whole works into a sealable plastic bag and put them into the vegetable keeper. After 6-8 weeks I started checking the seed and found some crosses had started to germinate. I started potting them up in a seedling starting mix, made certain they were moist but not to wet, put the container into a plastic bag, seal, then I put them on top of my kitchen cupboards where it is warm. As the little green leaves began to show I removed the plastic bags and moved them to sunny windows and then under lights as I ran out of space. I pushed them with dilute fertilizer as I watered. Again, being obsessive, mid-March I started transplanting them into individual pots and continued to grow them on. I had prepared my bed the previous fall.....In mid-May I lined them out. At this point in time a number were several inches tall and many had increases. As I took them out of the pots they had nice root systems and didn't suffer any transplant shock. This step wasn't necessary but........They grew vigorously all summer. When I cleaned them up the following spring I actually found 3 that had tried to bloom the same summer as I had planted the seedlings out but had frozen as winter came on. I think I had nearly 100% bloom the year after they germinated. in the ground it takes 2-or 3 years to bloom. I will look for pictures.....
