Author Topic: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)  (Read 3791 times)

HIfarm

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Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« on: December 04, 2017, 02:19:43 PM »
I've got a question I am directing to Oscar of FL but others may have the same question so I decided to post here.  The seed packet has instructions to "first soak seeds in distilled alcohol for 10 minutes".  I am assuming that this is ethanol ("drinking alcohol") not isopropanol or methanol.  I also assume that denatured alcohol would not be appropriate.  What percentage / proof should be used?  Could a relatively neutral high proof spirit like vodka be used?  (I can think of good ways to use the left over alcohol in that case.  :) )

Thanks,
John

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2017, 05:04:21 PM »
Good question. I looked it up again. Recommendation is based on a study by EMBRAPA in Brazil to speed up germination of bakuri. Should be soaked 5 minutes in 80% ethanol. Without treatment the seeds can take up to a year to sprout. They also mention hot water soaks of 20 minutes at 40C as helping.
While on this subject, you should be sure to maintain high night time temperatures of the seeds. Hawaii lows of 60's (or even lower) at night seems to kill these seeds. Use a warming mat or tray to maintain high temperature at all time. I recommend 85-95F. These are amazon species and very sensitive to low temperatures. Good luck with them.
Oscar

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2017, 02:22:56 AM »
Good question. I looked it up again. Recommendation is based on a study by EMBRAPA in Brazil to speed up germination of bakuri. Should be soaked 5 minutes in 80% ethanol. Without treatment the seeds can take up to a year to sprout. They also mention hot water soaks of 20 minutes at 40C as helping.
While on this subject, you should be sure to maintain high night time temperatures of the seeds. Hawaii lows of 60's (or even lower) at night seems to kill these seeds. Use a warming mat or tray to maintain high temperature at all time. I recommend 85-95F. These are amazon species and very sensitive to low temperatures. Good luck with them.

Does the temperature comment also hold true for the escalarte?

fruitlovers

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2017, 03:02:23 AM »
Good question. I looked it up again. Recommendation is based on a study by EMBRAPA in Brazil to speed up germination of bakuri. Should be soaked 5 minutes in 80% ethanol. Without treatment the seeds can take up to a year to sprout. They also mention hot water soaks of 20 minutes at 40C as helping.
While on this subject, you should be sure to maintain high night time temperatures of the seeds. Hawaii lows of 60's (or even lower) at night seems to kill these seeds. Use a warming mat or tray to maintain high temperature at all time. I recommend 85-95F. These are amazon species and very sensitive to low temperatures. Good luck with them.

Does the temperature comment also hold true for the escalarte?
No, i'm only talking about the bakuri. The escarlate jaboticaba is not from Amazon area.
Oscar

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2017, 05:54:23 PM »
Good question. I looked it up again. Recommendation is based on a study by EMBRAPA in Brazil to speed up germination of bakuri. Should be soaked 5 minutes in 80% ethanol. Without treatment the seeds can take up to a year to sprout. They also mention hot water soaks of 20 minutes at 40C as helping.
While on this subject, you should be sure to maintain high night time temperatures of the seeds. Hawaii lows of 60's (or even lower) at night seems to kill these seeds. Use a warming mat or tray to maintain high temperature at all time. I recommend 85-95F. These are amazon species and very sensitive to low temperatures. Good luck with them.

Does the temperature comment also hold true for the escalarte?
No, i'm only talking about the bakuri. The escarlate jaboticaba is not from Amazon area.

thanks. i bought a heating pad anyway on ebay today b/c it's frigid in the valley now.  can use them on some garcinia seeds from india and some rare annona. 

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2017, 07:04:38 PM »
Are Bacuris  dioecious  ? I have a huge tall bacuri plant in my garden which every year gives pink-red flowers but no fruits . Any info on this regard would be appreciated

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2017, 02:03:23 AM »
Are Bacuris  dioecious  ? I have a huge tall bacuri plant in my garden which every year gives pink-red flowers but no fruits . Any info on this regard would be appreciated
Yes dioecioous.
Oscar

HIfarm

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2017, 11:52:32 AM »
Are Bacuris  dioecious  ? I have a huge tall bacuri plant in my garden which every year gives pink-red flowers but no fruits . Any info on this regard would be appreciated
Yes dioecioous.
Geez, Oscar, I hope you are mistaken on that one.   I've downloaded over a dozen articles on bacuri & none say it is dioecious.  One, from the fao, says the flowers are bisexual and another from a Brazilian source, says the flowers are "hermaphrophytic" (presumably a typo for hermaphroditic).  If indeed dioecious & I am lucky enough to get one to germinate, hopefully you will have some scions in the future to graft the other sex onto my tree.

By the way, this is not meant to question you, Oscar -- just that it is very hard to get a straight story on a lot of these more obscure fruits.  On line sources are often inaccurate.

John
« Last Edit: December 07, 2017, 12:39:30 PM by HIfarm »

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2017, 12:03:38 PM »
Do you have this one growing already Oscar? You should post some pictures if you can Mangaba. I would love to see your tree.
-Josh

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2017, 11:48:37 PM »
Are Bacuris  dioecious  ? I have a huge tall bacuri plant in my garden which every year gives pink-red flowers but no fruits . Any info on this regard would be appreciated
Yes dioecioous.
Geez, Oscar, I hope you are mistaken on that one.   I've downloaded over a dozen articles on bacuri & none say it is dioecious.  One, from the fao, says the flowers are bisexual and another from a Brazilian source, says the flowers are "hermaphrophytic" (presumably a typo for hermaphroditic).  If indeed dioecious & I am lucky enough to get one to germinate, hopefully you will have some scions in the future to graft the other sex onto my tree.

By the way, this is not meant to question you, Oscar -- just that it is very hard to get a straight story on a lot of these more obscure fruits.  On line sources are often inaccurate.

John
Yes, rusty memory on my part. Here is an excerpt from the book Quality and Potential Use of Bakuri
, translated from portuguese:

 The flowers are hermaphroditic and androgynous, actinomorphic, polistêmones,
 large (about 7 cm long and 3 cm in diameter) and solitary
 terminals, located in the branches and terminals, covering the entire crown with
 a beautiful ornamental effect (Clement and Venturieri, 1990; Mourão and Beltrati,
 1995a, 1995b).
 These flowers are composed of 4 sepals and 4 to 6 petals in pink
 beginning and then red, and very showy, with numerous stamens,
 meeting on 5 bundles (phalanges) opposite the petals.  These characteristics
 flowers are present in pink initially, rising to the color
 red after more typical format of the crown in the shape of inverted cone,
 create the place where these plants a color to be seen and
 appreciated (Manica, 2000).
 According Villachica et al. (1996), the state of Pará, the Bacurizeiro
 flowers, usually between June and July, continuing the fallen leaves.
 The ripe fruit falls from December to May the following year, with more
 production from February to March. 
Oscar

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2017, 11:52:50 PM »
Do you have this one growing already Oscar? You should post some pictures if you can Mangaba. I would love to see your tree.
.
No don't have it growing. I failed the first time sprouting the seeds i brought back, even though they were very fresh. I think the main problem is inverse season here. So they fruit in summer in Amazon and then they are brought back in coldest time of the year here. That's why i suggested earlier using a heating mat.
Oscar

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #11 on: December 10, 2017, 01:05:02 AM »
 I found this interesting information on bakuri propagation in: “Fruit Trees and Useful Plants in Amazonian Life” published by FAO/CIFOR and PPI 2011

"If bacuri does not grow in your area on its own, you can plant it. You can do this in one of two ways: by planting the seeds, which take two years to germinate, or by planting grafts and sprouts that produce earlier. A good way to get sprouts quickly and cheaply is to plant a seed and wait 70 days for the roots to grow. Then cut the seed and leave the root in the ground. From the severed root, after two months, a small yellow sprout will grow, which requires a few more months to develop. You must wait about four or five months until the sprout reaches about 40 cm and is ready to be transplanted. A seed with a small piece of root can be used to form new sprouts. Just repeat the process. From one seed it is possible to obtain three or four sprouts. The recommended space for this planting is 10 x 10 m, reaching up to 115 plants/ha. Using this method you can have sprouts ready in less than one year."

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2017, 10:00:40 PM »
Wow! So interesting.

I ended up putting my seeds in separate ziplocks with moist sphagnam moss. I tried peeling the coating off of one them but I don't think that is necessary to boost germination. It was just a thin membrane like many other Garcinia seeds.

I found this interesting information on bakuri propagation in: “Fruit Trees and Useful Plants in Amazonian Life” published by FAO/CIFOR and PPI 2011

"If bacuri does not grow in your area on its own, you can plant it. You can do this in one of two ways: by planting the seeds, which take two years to germinate, or by planting grafts and sprouts that produce earlier. A good way to get sprouts quickly and cheaply is to plant a seed and wait 70 days for the roots to grow. Then cut the seed and leave the root in the ground. From the severed root, after two months, a small yellow sprout will grow, which requires a few more months to develop. You must wait about four or five months until the sprout reaches about 40 cm and is ready to be transplanted. A seed with a small piece of root can be used to form new sprouts. Just repeat the process. From one seed it is possible to obtain three or four sprouts. The recommended space for this planting is 10 x 10 m, reaching up to 115 plants/ha. Using this method you can have sprouts ready in less than one year."
-Josh

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #13 on: December 11, 2017, 12:21:03 AM »
I found this interesting information on bakuri propagation in: “Fruit Trees and Useful Plants in Amazonian Life” published by FAO/CIFOR and PPI 2011

"If bacuri does not grow in your area on its own, you can plant it. You can do this in one of two ways: by planting the seeds, which take two years to germinate, or by planting grafts and sprouts that produce earlier. A good way to get sprouts quickly and cheaply is to plant a seed and wait 70 days for the roots to grow. Then cut the seed and leave the root in the ground. From the severed root, after two months, a small yellow sprout will grow, which requires a few more months to develop. You must wait about four or five months until the sprout reaches about 40 cm and is ready to be transplanted. A seed with a small piece of root can be used to form new sprouts. Just repeat the process. From one seed it is possible to obtain three or four sprouts. The recommended space for this planting is 10 x 10 m, reaching up to 115 plants/ha. Using this method you can have sprouts ready in less than one year."
Yes they will sprout from roots. That is why you want to make sure you select the correct place to plant them in the ground, because if you should change your mind and move them they will keep resprouting from roots in the same spot. In the Amazon this plant can be quite aggresive and difficult to eradicate. Don't think that will be a problem at all outside of equatorial areas.
Oscar

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Re: Bakuri seed prep (Platonia insignis)
« Reply #14 on: December 28, 2017, 08:29:35 PM »
Two rotted. One is going in a custom root pruning tall pot tomorrow! Now I just need to get some more seeds since this won't do me any good on it's own. What rootstocks work for making backups if I get this thing to sprout?

-Josh