Best way to start jackfruit seeds?

[sultry_jasmine_nights]

Hi a nice couple at our local farmer's market gave me a few jackfruit seeds fresh out of the fruit.  What is the best way to start them? How big of a pot should I use..are they picky about transplanting? Any other tidbits of info or tips would be great too. Thanks!

[Patrick]

Just below the surface of good draining soil mix, deep pot, partial shade until about 3 feet tall works best for me!

[MarinFla]

Just below the surface of good draining soil mix, deep pot, partial shade until about 3 feet tall works best for me!

I have done it the way Patrick mentioned with much success. I also have taken the seeds and put them in a larger zip lock plastic bag on moist/wet paper towels. I really like doing it this way because I can see the roots developing when they germinate and just plant them tap root down in a tall container 1-3 gal with potting mix. It's a preference thing really....I just like watching the seeds germinate

[fruitlovers]

Place one jackfruit seed in center of one gallon pot and cover with one inch of soil. Extremely easy seed to sprout. Keep well watered and in partial shade. When about 12 inches tall you can transplant into larger pot. They are not sensitive at all to being transplanted. (In tropics jackfruits can become weedy as the seeds under the trees will all sprout and become volunteer trees.)

[Recher]

hump up, hilum down, planted in situ

[cwojo]

They are not sensitive at all to being transplanted.

My NS-1 seedling went into transplant shock when I transferred it from a pot to my front yard. It dropped all of it's leaves and never put out any more growth, stayed dormant for months and the branches died.

[fruitlovers]

They are not sensitive at all to being transplanted.

My NS-1 seedling went into transplant shock when I transferred it from a pot to my front yard. It dropped all of it's leaves and never put out any more growth, stayed dormant for months and the branches died.

I've transplanted many hundreds of jacks with no problem.  But this is in a nursery situation, where i can control amount of sunshine and water. You transplant from a nursery semi shade situation into full sun and yes ANY plant can have transplant shock. Compared to most other trees jacks are very resilient plants.

[sultry_jasmine_nights]

Thanks for all your help planting my seeds! They both sprouted and are about 7 inches tall now. The rain water washed the seeds around in the pot and so they are right up next to each other lol. They have roots coming out of the bottom of the pot now so I guess it is time to separated them. I hope I don't put them into shock trying to pull them apart now lol.

[Droshi]

Personally I put them into a container of water. I notice tropical seeds mostly like a ton of water to sprout. Being soaked in it seemed to work great for jackfruit. I also tried wet paper towels, that worked too, but just a cup of water is even easier to see the progress. For me I think 6 out of 7 sprouted either of these ways, so they must be pretty easy to grow.

[sultry_jasmine_nights]

That does make sense, Droshi. I have my set in a non-working fountain that has some standing rain water in it. I had to find somewhere up high to put my smaller pots so the free ranging chickens couldn't get into it and scratch out the seeds lol. The roots grew right out the bottom of the pot towards the water really fast.  I bet it is pretty neat to see the seed actually sprout in  a clear glass of water. I will have to try that if I ever get any more jackfruit seeds.

[KarenRei]

Personally I put them into a container of water. I notice tropical seeds mostly like a ton of water to sprout. Being soaked in it seemed to work great for jackfruit. I also tried wet paper towels, that worked too, but just a cup of water is even easier to see the progress. For me I think 6 out of 7 sprouted either of these ways, so they must be pretty easy to grow.

Just to be the hundredth person to chime in with my experience, I got some jacks from roy_ind and despite the great mail and customs delays (not his fault, Iceland's), every one of them germniated using the polyethylene bag method.  These are some pretty easy seeds to germinate. 

[Recher]

In this climate, and I suspect as a general truth, far and away the most vigorous healthy seedlings are ones where the seed can be planted  in situ.

Jakfruit in this warm wet subtropical climate do admirally planted in situ. Its day and night with green sapote.

[MMMMommy]

Just curious, how many years does it take for a Jackfruit tree to fruit from seed?

[bradflorida]

I have recently sprouted a couple dozen jackfruit seeds by doing the following:

I soaked the seeds in a bowl od water for 24 hrs prior to putting Tem
Into their containers.  I purchased small degradable brown cups/containers (about 3" diameter) and filled with potting soil and placed the seed maybe 1" deep in the soil.  Then they were placed in full sun and watered each day in the morning as well as evening. 

90 percent success rate.  Most seedlings poked out from the dirt in 2-3 weeks. 

Brad

[FloridaGreenMan]

Fresh Jak seeds are among the easiest of all the seeds to germinate.  Just stick them in a pot, water and wait a short time. Keep them warm though! 

[Tim]

Depends on your location and maintenance schedule, but according to Morton it can be anywhere from 2.5 years for the extremely precocious seedlings to 14 years on some. Personally, my old man grew a 30+ year old tree without a single fruit 

Just curious, how many years does it take for a Jackfruit tree to fruit from seed?

[natsgarden123]

Just below the surface of good draining soil mix, deep pot, partial shade until about 3 feet tall works best for me!

ditto....it works

[fruitlovers]

Fresh Jak seeds are among the easiest of all the seeds to germinate.  Just stick them in a pot, water and wait a short time. Keep them warm though!

Given right climate the jackfruit seeds start so easy it is invasive. Grows wild all over Brazil. Even at top of sugar loaf mountain!

You just need to make sure to remove all pulp carefully so the seeds don't get moldy. Also don't let the seeds dry out or get baked in sun before you plant them.

[sultry_jasmine_nights]

Thanks for all the replies.
That is a beautiful photo! My seedlings are a few feet tall now. They would probably be bigger if I had potted them into larger pots sooner
How large of a pot should they be in now?
 I am going to overwinter them in the greenhouse. What is the coldest they can get without damage? I am trying to figure out at what temp. F, I should plan to run the propane heater...We don't get a lot of nights below freezing. Last winter I didn't even have to run the heater but last winter was not at all typical for us (much warmer).
Will I be able to keep these at a shorter height like around 10-12 ft at the most? They are going to have to stay in pots until I move further south lol.

[Tropicdude]

I saved three seeds from Harry's Mai 1 seedling,  I just popped them in a container, all three sprouted and are growing well.   they seem easy to grow.

[natsgarden123]

I saved three seeds from Harry's Mai 1 seedling,  I just popped them in a container, all three sprouted and are growing well.   they seem easy to grow.

Beyond- My 2 yo MAI-1 seedling is about 10 feet tall, and I've pruned it a number of times!

[MarinFla]

I saved three seeds from Harry's Mai 1 seedling,  I just popped them in a container, all three sprouted and are growing well.   they seem easy to grow.

Beyond- My 2 yo MAI-1 seedling is about 10 feet tall, and I've pruned it a number of times!

Nat, what is the thickness of the trunk? may in a year or two it will be strong enough to fruit!

[natsgarden123]

I saved three seeds from Harry's Mai 1 seedling,  I just popped them in a container, all three sprouted and are growing well.   they seem easy to grow.

Beyond- My 2 yo MAI-1 seedling is about 10 feet tall, and I've pruned it a number of times!

Nat, what is the thickness of the trunk? may in a year or two it will be strong enough to fruit!

This tree has been pruned numerous times- 2 years ago, it was a seed. That is a 6 ft fence in the photo.

[plantlover13]

I saved three seeds from Harry's Mai 1 seedling,  I just popped them in a container, all three sprouted and are growing well.   they seem easy to grow.

Beyond- My 2 yo MAI-1 seedling is about 10 feet tall, and I've pruned it a number of times!

Nat, what is the thickness of the trunk? may in a year or two it will be strong enough to fruit!

This tree has been pruned numerous times- 2 years ago, it was a seed. That is a 6 ft fence in the photo.

Somebody please tell me that jackfruits grow really, really slow the first year and then pick up speed massively the next year. Cause if not, then i am doing something horrible wrong beyond the fact that i'm growing them in containers.