Duguetia Seeds Sprouted!!!

[TomekK]

Last year I got 4 duguetia seeds from Brian Laufer as a last-minute addition to a trade. Actually, I didn’t know he included them at first, and only saw them when going through the packaging material in the box he sent, and found them taped to the side of tue box. After getting them, I put them in sphagnum moss in a plastic freezer box and left them on and off my heat mat, depending on if my heat mat had to be used for other things.

About 6 months ago, one of them germinated. Unfortunately, the seed broke off right before the leaves came out, so I was left with a nice root and stem, but without leaves or any nodes to grow new leaves from. It soon died.

The other seeds were slightly moldy and didn’t look too promising, but I kept them in the moss and forgot about them. A few days ago, I was cleaning around and saw the box, opened it, and saw 2 seeds growing, one forming leaves! Both have much thicker roots than the one that germiated earlier as well.

Planted them and put them on the heat mat with a plastic bag covering to slowly adjust the humidity from the 100 percent of the box to a more reasonable amount. Super excited to see them grow!

Anyone have any tips on care for these? Only my second annona/relative that I’m growing, the other being grocery-store-seed cherimoyas. Will they do well in my grow tent with my cacaos and other ultra tropicals? How much light do they need?

[SouthBayHapaJoe]

Very nice! What type of Dugetia are you growing?
Duguetias are notoriously difficult to germinate and just as tough to grow. They are are very very slow growing from my experience so far. I have two Phaeoclados that germinated 2 months ago and it just started cracking the seed coat and pushing the cotyledon. My Marcgraviana that germinated at the same time is STILL in tap root growth. There is very little known about how to grow these guys, but please share any successes.

[TomekK]

Very nice! What type of Dugetia are you growing?
Duguetias are notoriously difficult to germinate and just as tough to grow. They are are very very slow growing from my experience so far. I have two Phaeoclados that germinated 2 months ago and it just started cracking the seed coat and pushing the cotyledon. My Marcgraviana that germinated at the same time is STILL in tap root growth. There is very little known about how to grow these guys, but please share any successes.

No idea which species. Brian Laufer wrote on the bag the seeds came in “duguetia sp., large pink, Paraguay.” I’m usually bad at germinating seeds that take a long time to sprout, so surprised that these grew. I guess the trick is to forget about them, instead of touching them every day and telling them to grow!

I’ll definitely keep this thread updated on how they grow.

[Mike T]

There are dozens of species in this genus and fruit edible qualities range from hero to zero, or is that champ to chump? Anyway I'd be finding out what species they are or at least the previous origins to pin down what they are. Mant a valuable tree has had an identity crisis and lost value due to uncertainty about what is is.

[TomekK]

There are dozens of species in this genus and fruit edible qualities range from hero to zero, or is that champ to chump? Anyway I'd be finding out what species they are or at least the previous origins to pin down what they are. Mant a valuable tree has had an identity crisis and lost value due to uncertainty about what is is.

I’ll try to find out the origins. Haven’t been able to contact Brian Laufer recently, but hopefully he will know where it’s from. I know it’s a large pink duguetia from Paraguay, if that helps with ID let me know! Also, can you ID them from the leaves?

I actually am not too concerned with fruit quality/rarity if this one. I don’t expect any fruit anytime soon, and probably will kill them before they can fruit. Actually, if it’s less rare, it makes me more comfortable growing it, and I don’t need to worry about killing a rarity.

But an ID would certainly be nice.

[W.]

I thought about buying some Duguetia seeds from Oscar earlier this year. I was put off by the idea of them being hard to germinate. I have had problems with rare Annonaceaes in the past with no success germinating a few of the rare Annonas and only ever successfully germinating one Uvaria rufa seed, quickly killing it. Good to hear of someone having success with rare Annonaceaes.

[TomekK]

I thought about buying some Duguetia seeds from Oscar earlier this year. I was put off by the idea of them being hard to germinate. I have had problems with rare Annonaceaes in the past with no success germinating a few of the rare Annonas and only ever successfully germinating one Uvaria rufa seed, quickly killing it. Good to hear of someone having success with rare Annonaceaes.

I’m so surprised that these germinated precisely because I have only had problems germinating annonas, even Rollinias and Soursops. My only success with annonas were grocery-store cherimoyas (beginner’s luck) and some Pawpaws that I flung in the ground and forgot about. I think the trick for me is to not pay any attention to the seeds, and then be pleasantly surprised if they germinate.

How did your uvaria die? I’ll be happy if these Duguetia survive, but honestly don’t have high hopes considering my grow tent is being set up for Cacaos, and indoors outside the tent they’ll probably die of low humidity like all ultra tropicals do for me.

[W.]

I thought about buying some Duguetia seeds from Oscar earlier this year. I was put off by the idea of them being hard to germinate. I have had problems with rare Annonaceaes in the past with no success germinating a few of the rare Annonas and only ever successfully germinating one Uvaria rufa seed, quickly killing it. Good to hear of someone having success with rare Annonaceaes.

I’m so surprised that these germinated precisely because I have only had problems germinating annonas, even Rollinias and Soursops. My only success with annonas were grocery-store cherimoyas (beginner’s luck) and some Pawpaws that I flung in the ground and forgot about. I think the trick for me is to not pay any attention to the seeds, and then be pleasantly surprised if they germinate.

How did your uvaria die? I’ll be happy if these Duguetia survive, but honestly don’t have high hopes considering my grow tent is being set up for Cacaos, and indoors outside the tent they’ll probably die of low humidity like all ultra tropicals do for me.

I am not sure how my Uvaria rufa died. It never seemed particularly strong, and I think it may have damped off.

I have had a little more success than you with the common Annonas; I have successfully germinated squamosa, cherimola, reticulata, muricata, and purpurea. I have had no success with any other Annonaceae with the exception of pawpaws, which I just left outside over the winter in a pot protected from pests. I thought, after my success with the common Annonas, that I would be able to branch out to some of the rare ones such as herzogii, tomentosa, and others, as well as a couple of Uvaria species. I have had no success with any of them. I doubt I am going to try again for some time due to that lack of success and the high expense of such rare Annona seeds.

[TomekK]

Yes, the price of most rarer annonas also puts me off trying them. My collection is basically cacao/theobroma/herrania focused, with whatever other interesting species/varieties pique my fancy. I started with just grocery-store-seed seedlings, and honestly have not gone much further. Still don’t have any grafted citrus/avocado/mangos, actually don’t have any grafted plants nor any mangos at all. While I am looking for other fruits/better cultivars to add to my collection, there is always some cacao or cacao relative that takes priority!

Trading my extra cacaos has expanded my collection the most, giving me a vanilla vine, lemon drop and superior lemon drop, as well as a bunch of papaya relatives I constantly worry will die of root rot like they always do. And of course these Duguetias came from a trade.

[W.]

We started our fruit collections the same way, grocery store seedlings. I then branched out to buying seeds online. Now, I buy a combination of rare seeds and plants. I do not have that many grafted plants, either.

I have also not gotten into avocados and mangos that much. I have a couple of them but have shied away from them as I am not sure how feasible it is fruiting them in containers in temperate areas. I am also not the biggest fan of avocados as a fruit, so why grow something I would not eat regularly.

However, I do like growing and collecting citrus. Most of mine are not grafted; they are seedlings grown on their own roots. I have seedlings from 20-25 varieties of citrus. I will certainly add more when I get the opportunity.

Our collecting ethos also seems similar. I collect what interests me, even if I have never heard of it before or collected any similar species. But, I specialize more in citrus and Myrtaceae species instead of Theobromas, which I have none of in my collection.

If you want to expand your collection with some citrus, common Annonas, or other plants, let me know. We could see about making a trade or two.

[TomekK]

We started our fruit collections the same way, grocery store seedlings. I then branched out to buying seeds online. Now, I buy a combination of rare seeds and plants. I do not have that many grafted plants, either.

I have also not gotten into avocados and mangos that much. I have a couple of them but have shied away from them as I am not sure how feasible it is fruiting them in containers in temperate areas. I am also not the biggest fan of avocados as a fruit, so why grow something I would not eat regularly.

However, I do like growing and collecting citrus. Most of mine are not grafted; they are seedlings grown on their own roots. I have seedlings from 20-25 varieties of citrus. I will certainly add more when I get the opportunity.

Our collecting ethos also seems similar. I collect what interests me, even if I have never heard of it before or collected any similar species. But, I specialize more in citrus and Myrtaceae species instead of Theobromas, which I have none of in my collection.

If you want to expand your collection with some citrus, common Annonas, or other plants, let me know. We could see about making a trade or two.

Would definitely be interested in trading with you! Perhaps next year? I have too many plants right now, and really don’t have the room for any more. I wonder if grafting onto my seed-grown citrus would be a good idea. The largest 2 are cara cara navel oranges, right now in 7 gallon pots. Have not flowered/fruited, but maybe they would be good for grafting some more interesting varieties.

[W.]

We started our fruit collections the same way, grocery store seedlings. I then branched out to buying seeds online. Now, I buy a combination of rare seeds and plants. I do not have that many grafted plants, either.

I have also not gotten into avocados and mangos that much. I have a couple of them but have shied away from them as I am not sure how feasible it is fruiting them in containers in temperate areas. I am also not the biggest fan of avocados as a fruit, so why grow something I would not eat regularly.

However, I do like growing and collecting citrus. Most of mine are not grafted; they are seedlings grown on their own roots. I have seedlings from 20-25 varieties of citrus. I will certainly add more when I get the opportunity.

Our collecting ethos also seems similar. I collect what interests me, even if I have never heard of it before or collected any similar species. But, I specialize more in citrus and Myrtaceae species instead of Theobromas, which I have none of in my collection.

If you want to expand your collection with some citrus, common Annonas, or other plants, let me know. We could see about making a trade or two.

Would definitely be interested in trading with you! Perhaps next year? I have too many plants right now, and really don’t have the room for any more. I wonder if grafting onto my seed-grown citrus would be a good idea. The largest 2 are cara cara navel oranges, right now in 7 gallon pots. Have not flowered/fruited, but maybe they would be good for grafting some more interesting varieties.

I have not been particularly impressed with grocery store cara cara oranges. I would guess, though, that your trees would provide you with great, home-grown fruit when picked at the optimum ripeness. You are lucky; I did not get a single seed from the one bag of cara caras I purchased.

Our timing might be a little off on trading. I am looking to get rid of most of my extra seedlings before this winter. They are getting to the size and age (some of them a little past the size and age) where they need to go into larger containers. I am not going to have the space to up-pot and keep all my seedlings. They already take up enough space.