The Tropical Fruit Forum
Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: FloridaGreenMan on September 30, 2012, 01:00:47 PM
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I know this has been brought up before but just wanted to mention again of the high success you can get when germinating tropical seeds in a Ziplock bag. I usually wash my seeds then place them in a bag with some moist Sphagnum moss. It's super easy and the germination rate is great even with difficult seeds like Ilama (A.diversifolia).
(http://s7.postimage.org/leubl7uk7/Home_9_30_12_001.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/leubl7uk7/)
Ilama (A.diversifolia).
(http://s7.postimage.org/5545ibjw7/Home_9_30_12_002.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/5545ibjw7/)
Ilama (A.diversifolia).
(http://s7.postimage.org/a51lq9piv/Home_9_30_12_003.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/a51lq9piv/)
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Did you pre treat your ilama seeds? Are they fresh seeds or last years seeds?
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I have also done this with abiu seeds, specifically Noel's Marissa, with moist paper towel and all have successfully germinated.
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Did you pre treat your ilama seeds? Are they fresh seeds or last years seeds?
Those Ilama seeds are from Aug 2009! All I did was to lightly sand them with sandpaper and then bag them. Ilama seeds last for several year but 3 years surprised even me. They sprouted in 2 weeks.
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Do you keep the bag indoors? Thanks
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I keep them in my garage on a workbench and they get almost no sunlight.
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Great thanks
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I have tropical seeds (borojo, syzygium, chupachupa,santol, etc) that I will be recieving soon. What method (paper towel, soilless mix, or sphagnum) do you suggest to germinate these seeds? Do any of you ever put them on a heating mat (while they're in the baggie), also, I do have a thermostat controller for the mat. If you have any helpful germinating tips you'd like to share that would be great! I love experimenting, and learning new things!! :) - Nikki
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I would just do the sphagnum moss in a bag as I mentioned. In the past I used wet towels and it increases the chance of rotting. I had read somewhere that Sphagnum moss inhibits fungus attack. Try a few different ways and report back your success.
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Going to have to give this a try with a. diversifolia. I have never been able to germinate any and I refuse to treat chemically. Thanks for the post, Noel.
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I would just do the sphagnum moss in a bag as I mentioned. In the past I used wet towels and it increases the chance of rotting. I had read somewhere that Sphagnum moss inhibits fungus attack. Try a few different ways and report back your success.
Most paper induces mold. So stay away from it if you can. I only use paper in emergency situations. Otherwise always use either sphagnum moss or peat moss. Both of these are very low pH and molds have a hard time growing on them. Sphagnum moss has lower pH than peat moss, so is the best. Another option that works well is vermiculite, but it's not acid like the moss. But it's better than using paper. I use vermiculite when sending seeds because many countries will not allow any moss into their country. They don't consider it sterile, whereas vermiculite is considered sterile.
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Going to have to give this a try with a. diversifolia. I have never been able to germinate any and I refuse to treat chemically. Thanks for the post, Noel.
The reason they sprouted easily without gibberelic acid treatment for Noel is not because he used this method, but because they were stored a long time. Ilama seeds need a long dormant time in order to germinate. They will not germinate straight out of the fruit. You can accelerate time needed for dormancy by putting them in the fridge for one month. What you are trying to do is imitate over wintering that they need in order to germinate.
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So that's what I'm doing wrong! I use moist paper towel and get lots of issues with mold. Will switch to sphagnum.
Thanks!
-Luke
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So that's what I'm doing wrong! I use moist paper towel and get lots of issues with mold. Will switch to sphagnum.
Thanks!
-Luke
As Adam would say: Sphagnum is the boss! ;)
I don't know why paper towels attract mold. They're supposed to be bleached paper? But they do attract it anyway!
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Thanks for important tips, your guys are the pros. ;)
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Coffee filters don't attractive mold and likewise prevents the roots to dig in and get stuck - I use these for smaller seeds that otherwise get "lost" with other methods. But they do tend to dry out unevenly especially when placed on a heat mat and for this reason I also prefer sphagnum moss or peat moss for bigger seeds.
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Hi FloridaGreenMan,
That's spectacular to see Illama germinate after been stored for 3 years :o...Cherimoya is another one that can be kept for a long time.
Thanks a bunch for sharing your method for germinating Illama seeds...I will do the same when i get some seeds :) I also use this method when Ethan, mentioned it and i have been doing it ever seens...I also use a old lunch tin with moist paper towels or peat potting soil, with excellent results.
Sphagnum moss is definitely BOSS...cause they have anti-fungal properties 8) Never seen it for sale here :'( So, i need to improvise with what i can get :)
Thanks for sharing and congrat's on germinating Illama :)
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FloridaGreenman
thanks for sharing
Do you wet the sphagnum moss?
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FloridaGreenman
thanks for sharing
Do you wet the sphagnum moss?
Yes it's best to moisten the moss. Not soaking wet, but moist!
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Soak the sphagnum moss in water till thoroughly wet, then squeeze all the water out of it before putting it in the zip lock bag. BTW same SOP for wetting sphagnum moss to use in air layers.
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I have moistened my paper towels with Chamomile tea, used in a small spray bottle to moisten towels, helps me with the mold problem. Works great with acorns and other nuts that need to be "winterized" in the refrigerator.
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thank you FloridaGreenMan and fruitlovers for answering my question
I will try my luck soon, and will report the result, wish me luck :)
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Cocopeat is just as effective. The plastic bag method is excellent. The key is moisture content. You want to wring out the peat to where you can just begin to call it moist.
The only problem with this method is remembering to be on top of checking the bag regularily.
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Cocopeat is just as effective. The plastic bag method is excellent. The key is moisture content. You want to wring out the peat to where you can just begin to call it moist.
The only problem with this method is remembering to be on top of checking the bag regularily.
For really slow germinating seeds, or for large fleshy seeds it's also good to poke a few small holes in the bag so the seeds can breathe. Or you can just unzip them once a day to let the air in for a while. Lack of oxygen can cause anerobic bacterias to set up house.
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FGM, when do you usually remove the sprouted seeds and plant them in a pot, when they are completely out of the shell, when they have just started to push the tap root, etc.?
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This has been the method I employ to germinate seeds and have had great success, Limits the work of planting a bunch of seeds in soil.. until you know which ones are viable.. I use a paper towel myself. I don't have problems with mold when I soak the seeds in a water and bleach mixture. which kills anything on the seed coat. It's has worked lots of times for me! ;D Much easier to keep up with on seeds that take a long time to germinate.. I get tired of watering little pots with soil... but keeping them in a ziplock keeps them most until they germinate,, then BAM action is on, pop em' in some soil and they take off ;D
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Hello :)
I would like to hear your opinion about the durian seeds. Is that the/a suggested method?
Is a pretreatment neccessery? They tend to attract mold very easy!
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FGM, when do you usually remove the sprouted seeds and plant them in a pot, when they are completely out of the shell, when they have just started to push the tap root, etc.?
I plant them in pots as soon as I start seeing the root pushing out. You don't want the roots to get real big in the bag because they will start to get deformed.
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I plant them in pots as soon as I start seeing the root pushing out. You don't want the roots to get real big in the bag because they will start to get deformed.
Thank you, Noel. I got that root deformation with my Chewy sugar apple seeds. Instead of going straight, the tap roots started to spiral and branching out even though they're not out of the shell yet.
Also, my Eugenia Candolleana seeds took only 10 days to push out roots with this ziploc method. Amazing!
Thank you, Noel.
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Hello :)
I would like to hear your opinion about the durian seeds. Is that the/a suggested method?
Is a pretreatment neccessery? They tend to attract mold very easy!
The reason durian seeds attract mold easily is because pulp sticks stubbornly to seed. It is quite difficult to remove 100% of the pulp off and any remaining pulp is what gets moldy. If you clean the seed very well you won't have this problem. Also cover seed with very small amount of potting soil, 1/4-1/2 inch of soil. I noticed in Thai experiment station that the seeds were not covered at all but sprouted right on soil surface of soil:
(http://fruitlovers.com/Gallery1/DurianSeedsGerminatingChantaburri.jpg) This would work only in places with high humidity. Their starting trays had 100% germination.