It would make sense to cover up the daffodil seeds to keep the sun from drying them out completely and or slugs and snails from eating them and all the other creatures that might like to eat them.
In nature I expect that the seeds that get washed down hill or are blown further away with high winds from the parent plant would have an advantage over the seeds that fall right down in amongst the leaves of the parent plant.
In the hybridizers garden I expect we tend to grow on the seeds in a weed free environment. Grow them in selected soils that are free from large rocks, free from mucky clay ETC. I would guess that as long as the seedling sprouted that it is free to send down roots into a wonderful concoction of blended sands, grit, humus ETC.
Then each seed can do what they have been programmed to do for millions of years, it will create roots that will pull the tiny bulblet down to the depth that particular cultivar deems best for survival in that particular soil. Does anyone think that soil temperature has anything to do with the depth they pull themselves down to or is it simply soil texture?
Yesterday we were at 72*F again while Minnesota was at -30*F. Our average daily temperature in December last month was 49*F (9*C) same as last year.
Anyway I normally till up an area in my field where we have few weeds and or grass to compete with the seeds and dump out all the species types of daffodil seeds that we gather, rake the area smooth and then wait a few years…..
Time to spray Poast Grass Killer over my daffodils again before they all come into bloom. Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas
—
Hi Donna,
I think the growth inhibiting condition caused by the release of chemicals to the soil, to which you referred is called “Allelopathy”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allelopathy
Dave Liedlich
Connecticut