I just discovered that Dot (Ladylovingdove) has some wonderful crosses listed on the Lily Auction. Does anyone else have any seeds listed yet? I know that Michele (Tink3472) had some recently, but I just checked and she doesn't have anything right now.

I have a question about seeds being auctioned and/or shared on this board. How do people choose seeds that they know will be viable? I have seen several posts of people sharing successful seedlings from someone on this sight (hemlady?) whose seeds have a very high rate of viability. Is there some way to assess whether a seed will be viable or not?

No way to tell. They can look perfect and not germinate.

@Hemlady. Thanks for the reply. You must just have the magic touch

Well, I don't know about that, LOL. I have some I planted in pots outdoors a week ago that still haven't germinated. If only the squirrels would leave my pots alone. They keep tipping them over.

Amber I bought some seeds from the LA last year and all had high germination rates. the only way I know how to tell if a seed is viable or not is to plant it

What would cause a seed to develop, look normal, but not germinate?

Don't let Cindy fool you there is some magic mixed in there too

Amber, I bought alot of seeds from LA this past winter (maybe more than I should) . I have excellent germination rates from most vendors. I found that germination of seeds was not the problem but the biggest issue was young seedlings dying from damping off or fungus gnats or both. You really need to get Gnatrol if you want to grow seedlings inside.

I guess successful germination (and seedling development) depends as much on the purchaser as it does on the seller ;)

Are day lily seeds anything like lilium seeds where you can hold a light under them and see the embryo? Or some people lightly blow on their seed,and the bad seed (chaff) will blow away while the good seed stays

amberjewel said:(and seedling development) depends as much on the purchaser as it does on the seller ;)

If a seed is viable, as evidenced by sprouting, it is not the seller's fault if that seed is killed by, or fails to grow for, the buyer. The seed was good. The grower's skills were not. While I feel that a responsible seed seller should help a newcomer learn how to successfully germinate and grow from seed, once the seed sprouts, success or failure depends on the grower.

Nhra_20 said:Are day lily seeds anything like lilium seeds where you can hold a light under them and see the embryo? Or some people lightly blow on their seed,and the bad seed (chaff) will blow away while the good seed stays

Lilium and hemerocallis are from two different families. The two have nothing in common. Daylily seeds are not translucent, nor do they have an outer coat like wheat or oats, therefore there is no chaff.

This daylily forum that you are on will be of great help to you. Here's another to help you get started learning about daylilies.

http://www.daylilies.org/AHSFA...

This spring I started daylily seeds for the first time. I had three groups of seeds. First group was from an experienced hybridizer, second were bee pods from my garden, and the third were seeds from my own crosses that I did this past summer. I did check to be sure of the ploidy, and the seeds matured and looked good. I started them all the same way. I had very good success with the seeds from the hybridizer and the bee pods, but none of my own crosses were viable.

I raised almost 90 seedlings and most are now planted out in a seedling bed.

What would cause my own crosses to produce non-viable seed?

Maybe they were picked too soon...

I have gotten non-viable seeds only once from the LA. And when I complained to the seller (whose seller name I won't mention), Mike (Owner of the LA) somehow found out (I think he was reading the sellers messages from buyers) and got involved. I later heard that I wasn't the only customer that had a no-grow on this particular seller's seeds. I got a refund of my money. That is one good thing about the LA. Mike takes his Lily Auction business seriously and wants happy customers and sellers. It is the only time I have ever bought "bad" seeds. I've bid on and won seeds on the LA numerous times over the past few years. Maybe not all seeds in a particular cross sprout, but the majority do. That is also the only seller I wasn't happy with. All other sellers have sent me viable seeds and I have gotten some beautiful seedlings from those seeds. I really don't worry about purchasing/winning on the LA.

Also, something that I do whenever I sow seeds, I water them with H2O2 mixed in the water (hydrogen peroxide 3%). It really does seem to help with root rot and even gnat larvae. I have also read that H2O2 helps seeds germinate. I don't believe that I have ever had a seedling rot (damping off) using hydrogen peroxide in the water. I swear by that stuff!

Ahead said:Maybe they were picked too soon...

I will try again this year. At least I was successful on germinating and growing them. Now to get the hybridizing right.

Amber and Valerie - Oops .... I completely missed the issue at hand. Sorry!

Could larvae have invaded your hand-crossed seeds by chance? I've had bugs (probably eggs) laid in developing seeds in the pod. The seeds turned to mush and these little critters came out of the mush (or caused an empty seed which crumbled).

On a rare occasion, I've had a no-grow hand-crossed seed issue happen. But it was so rare, that I just chalked it up to poor viability or my error growing them.

Also, some seeds just take much longer to germinate. I've had that issue from time to time. I planted seeds and most sprouted but there was 1 cup of sowed seeds that did nothing. I remember being told by others here to just give them time to germinate. I waited about 3 months (thinking they would never sprout) and much to my surprise .... they did! Not all of the seeds in that particular cup sprouted, but the majority did.

If seeds are older, that could also be a problem. Though sellers on the LA typically sell fresh seeds.

I've planted seeds late 2015 that where from 2014's harvest and they sprouted fine for me but they where kept in cold storage the whole time and I planted them when they arrived.

To get back to original subject of the forum "Does anyone else have any seeds listed yet?" I have none listed but will have soon. I have been collecting since early May. I will list a lot of patterns, both dips and tets.
Most of what I have collected so far are Patterned Tets.