Find Your Ask The Plant Expert: Can you ID this lily? It may be old plant – passed down thru several human generations. Plant is blooming now – three beautiful flowers in a pot here in Kentucky! Has abundant narrow leaves 1/4 inch wide. -DH
Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply: I believe this may be a type of pink Crinum lily.
Plant has bloomed repeatedly in past several weeks but may now be subsiding.
Occasionally an ovary develops – are viable seeds formed?
Opportunity to cross pollinate?
How does one maximize growth from seed?
Attached is pic of one such ovary…
DHB
Attached Image: Crinumseedpod.jpg
Donald,
Yes the seed should be viable.
Are you wanting to try to cross-pollinate your lilies to create some kind of hybrid? If so the time for cross pollination occurs when the flowers are in bloom and is a very tedious process. Or are you wondering if the seeds will be a result of cross-pollination with another lily in your yard. The answer to that would be could be a cross depending on where the pollinating insects were prior to visiting your flowers. Which is why the truest way to get more Crinum lilies is through division rather than by seed.
To maximize growth from a seed it begins with making sure the plant gets what it needs in terms of water, light and fertilizer during the growth phase. Then it is about timing — watching for optimal seed harvest time. You want to harvest the seeds when they are fully mature, but have not dropped to the ground. A little trick for harvesting the seed at the optimum time is to rig a little “bib” under the ovum to catch the seeds when they naturally open and drop. I like to start thing in a pot and then move them to the garden. This allows me to control the environment as the seed grows. So plant the seed in a jiffy pot with moist soil 1/2″ to an 1″ deep. Be sure to keep the soil moist and warm. I have known people who will then place the jiffy pot in a large zip loc bag to create a greenhouse effect and increase germination. One thing you don’t want to do is keep the soil to soggy, so make sure the pot drains excess water. In four to six weeks you should start to see the seed germinate. Keeping in mind that it will be year before the seeded plant will bloom.
Hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you need help with anything else.