Gloriosa Lily Seed Germination – Learn How To Plant Gloriosa Lily Seeds

Red Gloriosa Lilies
(Image credit: y-studio)

Gloriosa lilies are beautiful, tropical looking flowering plants that bring a splash of color to your garden or home. Hardy in USDA zones 9 through 11, they’re most frequently grown as container plants to be brought indoors during the winter. Even if you grow your gloriosa lily in a pot, however, it can produce seeds for you to grow into more plants. Keep reading to learn more about gloriosa lily seed germination and when to plant gloriosa lily seeds.

Is Planting Gloriosa Lily Seeds Worth It?

Usually, gloriosa lilies are propagated by vegetative or root cuttings because the success rate is much higher. While it’s not quite as likely to work, growing gloriosa lilies from seed is another viable option. Just be sure to plant several seeds to increase your chance of getting one that germinates and grows into a plant successfully.

When to Plant Gloriosa Lily Seeds

If you live in a very warm climate (USDA zones 9-11), you can plant your gloriosa lilies outdoors. It’s best to start the seeds indoors in the middle of winter, though, to give them the chance to grow into seedlings by spring, at which point they can be transplanted outside. If you’re planning on keeping your plants in containers and growing them inside or at least bringing them inside for the colder months, then you can start you seeds at any time during the year.

How to Plant Gloriosa Lily Seeds

Growing gloriosa lilies from seed is relatively easy, though it does take some patience. If you’re gathering seed pods from the plant yourself, wait until autumn when they dry and split open. Gather the seeds inside. Before planting gloriosa lily seeds, soak them in warm water for 24 hours. Sow the seeds in a pot of moist peat moss no deeper than 1 inch (2.5 cm.). Cover the pot with plastic wrap and keep it moist and warm. It may take between one and three months for the seeds to germinate.

Liz Baessler
Senior Editor

The only child of a horticulturist and an English teacher, Liz Baessler was destined to become a gardening editor. She has been with Gardening Know how since 2015, and a Senior Editor since 2020. She holds a BA in English from Brandeis University and an MA in English from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. After years of gardening in containers and community garden plots, she finally has a backyard of her own, which she is systematically filling with vegetables and flowers.