Grias neuberthii seeds : any advice on sowing them ?

[Zographos]

Hello, i'm new to this board and just received today 11 seeds of Grias neuberthii.

I've read nearly all that exists on the net about this family (doesn't need you lots of your time, there is not a vast litterature)
and since i place this species very high in my wishes, i would'nt miss something sowing them... since there are so advanced fruit sowers here

I've read that they need weeks or months to develop a long taproot before emerging (so a quite deep pot) and that they come from Iquitos, very tropical area in Peru, one site claim that they withstand beeing flooded and appreciate mud with running water like it occurs naturally, another site in germany says coir or sowing mix with the seed 1/2 into substrate + 1/2 uncovered and they need 25/30°c in order to germinate;

I was planning a deep pot, good quality coir/peat/ milled sphagnum/vermiculite/perlite with 25% of lombricompost (very rich media like a manure if my english is right, very fine) and a bit of akadama and large gravel sand & pumice to add good drainage...
No idea about the depth or if i must let something of the seed outside the media (?) but not too deep...

Will you do the same ?

Thanks for the advices.
I'll take a picture this evening of the seeds (a bit biger than i expected)...

[Finca La Isla]

Hi,
I think that a sandy, clay loam medium with lots of humis/leaf mold should be good.  Personally, I would half bury the seed and keep pretty moist.  It would help to keep the air and medium warm, about 25c.  I also would soak the seed for a couple of days before sowing.
Good luck,
Peter

[fruitlovers]

I have planted seeds of Grias peruviana.Yes they do send down a long tap root. Personally i planted them in deep pots, covered the seeds with about one inch (2.5 cm) of soil. When plants were about one foot tall i transplanted them into the ground. They are slow growing but sprout easily. Do you mind saying where you got your seeds?

[Finca La Isla]

I think that what occurs here naturally, on my farm, is grias caulifera.  And that I received a grias from Jim west that is grias neuberthii, not absolutely sure.
I realize that my conditions here are special but when I suggest planting seeds that protrude from the surface it is because, in horticulture, I have had the most success by trying to duplicate what I find in the wild.  Here, the grias seeds germinate nicely cradled in the leaf litter.
Peter

[Zographos]

Thanks for your experience and advices Peter and Oscar.

i ordered the seeds from Rarepalms the day they were put for sale, practically. They were very long to arrive (postal problems)
despite the short distance and so i suppose they are at least 6 weeks old from collection...



On the 11 seeds, 3 are floaters, 3 are playing the Titanic game and 5 are pure sinkers.
They didn't came with fungus, bad odors, a grey tone nor were too dry or too soft.
So, i cross my fingers.

Since the last 24 hrs seeds are at a warm 34°c on a heat mat with very wet towels envelopping them.
I ventilate them a bit from time to time and will sow them tomorrow or maybe the day after, a great part
more than half burried and i guess a few ones just beneath the surface.
In the kind of media you indicate Peter.



Other than that, there are 1 or 2 videos (youtube), a couple of dozens of pictures (the best are on Flickr) and only
an oz of infos here, the second one has the only Grias seedling picture, the third one give botanical infos about
different species in Peru and the key for the identification :
http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Grias+peruviana
http://www.rainforestconservation.org/agroforestry-ethnobotany/agroforestry-ethnobotany/grias-peruviana-sachamangua/
https://archive.org/details/floraofperu34fimacb

[fruitlovers]

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=8490.msg112120#msg112120

Last post has a video link.

[polux]

It is not problem to germinate Grias despite it is slow process, at first I remove woody outer coat of seed and germination start about 5 month. But as shows later, it was not necessary to do it because other seeds germinated without this. Problem with seedlings started 2 years after germination and to date I dont know where is the exact cause. May be short day in our winter (7a) was the main cause. All plants was infested by mites and after I elliminate them, leaves step by step falling down and no any regeneration. It was at winter as I say, but plants live may be 6 month more. Today I have only 1 plant without leaves, so my expectations are bad. All family Lecythidaceae seems problematic in winter month here in greenhouse, but Grias was the most.

[Zographos]

Hello Polux, i sowed today, i cross my fingers and wish your grias recover.
I have had the worst winter (i consider it finished hopefully) lately, not that it was a cold one, really not and the medias are OK saying us it was one of the warmest. But i disagree with them when it's a matter of light.
I've never seen a darkest winter since at least 1991 ! (End of last october to mid november, 24 consecutive days without a single ray of sun, can you beat that ?)

And light is really my only problem here and i'm not a millionary man, so i won't install bench of Leds or whatever artificial light it is, my warm grreenhouse already cost me a little fortune 

Whatever happens, good or bad, i will keep you informed, a kind of "Grias thread", i guess it would not be very popular, only a bunch of weird peoples interested by this family i guess ...

[micah]

Yes please keep us weirdos posted. :p
Hoping to grow/eat that sacha mango one day.

Anyone ever eat one before?

[thetrueholly]

Anybody there who actually offers Grias neuberthii (seeds or plant)?