Okay, I have been trying to germinate alstroemerias for a few years now and was getting frustrated so when I saw an ad on Craig's List for some I called. I got a gallon pot, but when I arrived I was kind of surprised to see the foliage because the ONE I did get to germinate had a sword type leaf and the ones I bought from the ad on CL look entirely different.

So my question is, are there that many varieties that they could both be alstroemerias? I actually have three that just germinated and they all have a sword type leaf. They are Dr. Salter's. I am confused.

And to make matters more confusing, I see posts in the BULB forum and the ones from CL do not have bulbs, but rather lots of shoots... the one I got to germinate two years ago had a small bulb.

Alstroemeria from seed, Dr. Salter's




Alstroemeria from CL

You know, I've grown them from seed, too, and all mine had the sword shaped leaves. As do all the ones I've received in cut flower arrangements. BUT, it looks like there are LOTS of different species of Alstroemeria! Look at this:
http://www.lazyssfarm.com/Plan...

Oh, the mass foliage of the varigated ones looks like the ones I got! Yay! So now I should have two kinds.

I'm curious, how long did yours take to germinate? I think the ones that finally came up were planted in Jan. or maybe even December...put in unheated greenhouse then brought outside for a week or so then I said, oh, the heck with it, I have some now, and just put them in my GH here, still unheated. We have been having warm, sunny days and cold nights. So I have another tray that were in the fridge for three weeks, then outside on heat and NOTHING. They're going in the GH and being forgotten (sort of!)

Oh, gee. It's been quite a while ago since I tried them from seed. As I recall, I strictly followed the instructions that came with the seeds. Seems like it was 2 or 3 weeks at 72 deg, then refrigerate for another 3 weeks or something like that, then bring back up to 70 or 72. This was back before I had my GH, so they were sprouted in my spare bedroom, with not really enough light, so they got really leggy. But from about 10 to 12 seeds, I got 7 seedlings. And eventually, I even got a couple of blooms, before they all died off from my ignorance! Or maybe it was our frigid temps? If you really want to know what I did, I may still have those instructions somewhere! It was a pain, and everyone thought I was nuts to jump through all those hoops, but it was kind of cool to see them finally sprout!

Naw, that's actually what the instructions are and that's what I did previous years and with the second planting this year. First year I got some germination but they were miniscule when I decided to take them over to my son's and tipped them over on the way over there and couldn't find but one of them! I was so disappointed. But I did plant the one and it didn't do much of anything where it was so I moved it to the garden so I wouldn't forget about it (since I'm in the garden more) but at that time our chickens were VERY free range (all over the place) so they dug it up! I was not happy! They broke off the top but I put the little bulb back into the ground (that was last fall) and marked it and had the chickens incarcerated since.

I am so tempted to dig where it is and see if it's doing anything, but so far I have resisted! I think it may come back. I hope it does. But in the meantime, I now have this new variety I got from CL and now, so far from seed this year, three more! I'm pretty happy about that. Now if I can get them to blossom.

Be sure to post pics if you get blooms!

Absolutely! I will be snapping away! I think Bonnie told me they bloom all summer too. Not sure that the ones started from seed will bloom this year, but if they do I will take pictures.

Hi Arlene ! I am from Argentina, and as far as I know, there are several kinds of alstroemerias. I grow alstroemeria psittacina. It is an alstroemeria native to Argentina and it grows like weed here. New plants grow from the seeds that fall on the soil, even if nobody takes care of them.
All the foliage disappears during the winter and it grows again during the Spring.

I forgot to say that hummingbirds love them !!!!!

Cecilia, hummingbirds are a bonus! I try to do a lot of flowers for the butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

Wow, I love alstroemeria. It's pretty hot here but are you also very hot there? I put some in full sun, some in partial sun because I wasn't sure.

Arlene, we have warm to hot Summers with a January high average of 84.2 °F.
Winters are mild. It does not snow here. Although, we did have a snowfall on July 9th 2007 . It was the first time in almost 90 years. We only have a few days with temperatures below freezing.
My alstroemerias grow everywhere because the seed pods explode and spread seeds in the garden.

Whoo Hoo! I hope my seed pods explode! But first I have to get them to bloom. I'm so anxious to see what the ones I got on Craig's List look like. One is supposed to be yellow, but who knows? And I doubt very much the ones that have germinated from seed will not blossom for a couple of years.

Come July and August we will probably see temps in the 100's! HOT, HOT, HOT!