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Re: sproutin

Hellebores are easy to germinate, but require a little patience.

Hellebores require stratification, essentially a cold
period or 'winter' cycle to destroy germination inhibitors.  That being
said, you are at an ideal time to start them.

Here's how we did it (thanks to Norman Deno):

We placed our seeds between 2 layers of damp paper towels, and placed the
towels in one of those cheap produce plastic bags you get at the grocery
store.  The bag is folded a few times to insure minimal moisture loss, but
also for easy access when you need to dampen the towels--a mister is handy
for this.

The bag is kept at room temperature for about 2-4 weeks--and then placed
in the fridge for the next 3 or so months.  Before putting the bag in the
fridge, check to see that the towels are still damp.

After having been in the fridge for about 3 months (give or take) you
should notice that the radicle (root) is beginning to show at the end of
the seed--success, but proceed with caution.  At  this point, we left our
seeds in the fridge until the radicle was about a half inch long (still in
the towels, in the bag).  The next step is to *gradually* bring the seeds
up to room temperature.  Depending on where you live, this should coincide
with the arrival of less harsh winter temps (Spring!).  If the temps
outside are around refrigerator temps, you can put the bag outside in a
shaded spot to introduce light, and get the seedlings used to slightly
warmer temps.  If the night time temps are about fridge level, heck, leave
the bag out--just don't forget about them, especially if the bag can be
hit by sun.

We found, that once this has been done for a week or two, and your day and
nightime temps are not wildly above, or below fridge temps, pot the
seedlings up--carefully.

In the cooler weather, you will *generally* see a rapid growth of the
cotyledons, and perhaps the first true leaf.  As the season progresses,
growth will come to a standstill, but resume again in the Fall.  Our small
May (1996) seedlings put on tremendous growth from mid-September to
mid-October--so much so, it was hard to believe they were the same plants.


Best of luck!

Bill & Harvey
SKID Zone 6 CT USA

>A friend asked me how to start helebours seed ... I am clueless as to
>proper approach...anyone out there help?
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