Lol, it took me a while to translate NBF into Narcissus Bulb fly! I have them, but have got used to calling them Merodon equestris. At first I thought NBF was New Boyfriend!
I had one largish Hipp bulb hollowed out too! Well I had two actually but the other was a struggling H.papilio which shrunk and never flowered, I found a pupa of a bulb fly in it this spring. That was one I bought years ago! I have some papilio from seed sown in early 2008 but even they were mostly weak so have only 4 promising ones left but there looks to be some small offsets growing unless they are hangers on. H. blossfeldiae is another I got in 2008.
I put my hipps in a greenhouse for the summer, when I came to bring them inside I found one of two only I had of H. calyptratum 'Macaé de Cima' was hollowed out the bottom, it wasn't growing while the other one was but it was the biggest one and for it's age quite big!
My H. striatum 'Petiolatum' has increased like wild fire, the pot was full of bulblets so I repotted the lot into a bigger pot and took out some smaller bulbs which were sitting amongst the others on the surface and repotted them but I left that pot in the greenhouse as an 'experiment' to see if they survive! I have loads in the main pot anyway.
The strongest for a start and best to germinate was H. calyptratum, they are very slow now and small though but still alive but I'm down to 5 plants of which 4 look strong and they make small bulbs anyway. I sowed those in early 2008. I got more seed in 2009, sown mid February, two packets of H. aulicum 'Quiririm' included! You get 10 seeds per packet, I got 9 of one and 10 of the other all looking robust and growing very strong now, I repotted them without separating the bulbs later this year but next year they will need separating maybe three to a pot as indoor space is diminished!
I have two lots of nice healthy Hippeastrum psittacinum 'Atibaia' sown at the same time which I can't wait to see in flower!
If I recall correctly I think H. aulicum 'Quiririm' was available later maybe in January as I sowed mine on 17th February, although I didn't sow them immediately on receipt. I floated the seed on water inside a clear plastic tub with the lid sat on top, let the leaves grow to an inch or more tall then made holes in compost with lots of leaf compost, gently pushing the compost around the small bulb which I put on the surface. I have had good success that way! I germinated the seed on the mantle above the fire which seemed perfect for them, when it was warmer I put them in an east facing window upstairs until this summer. I had seen H. aulicum 'Quiririm' selling on ebay here making £27 for three seeds! I didn't want to risk giving away any gems even at that price so I want to see them in flower first!
