Soncoya

[Tropical Bay Area]

How long does it take to germinate , what percentage of them sprout, and how picky are the small trees
Thank you

[New_Jungle]

I haven’t really tried too much but I got only 2 seedlings out of 10 seeds or so. It could be because they were older or allowed to dry out. I imagine you’d have a lot more success with fresh seeds. Germinated them in moistened vermiculite in Tupperware containers like I usually do for my annonas. Maybe a GA3 soak would help? Good luck!

[mangolover143]

Hi everybody,

I have successfully germinated some age-old Annona seeds including soncoya as follows:

•   Date sown: 14 December 2020, 10 Mexican soncoya (Annona purpurea) seeds bought via eBay
•   Date first seedling appeared: 22 December 2020
•   Time other seedlings appeared: within 2 to 3 weeks
•   Outcome of germination: 7 out of 10, i.e., 70% germinated with 3 failed due to damping off
•   Preparation:
o   Wash seeds with very dilute solutions of either hydrogen peroxide or thick bleach to remove bacteria
o   Tissue dried and cracked open at scar end of the seeds to make permanent openings
o   Soaked in 40% GA3 solution by dissolving 1 gram of the powder in a litre of water, for 24 hours
o   Rinsed with clean water before sowing
•   Medium used: half and half of spent Rooibos tea and coco peat
•   Preparation:
o   Wet the medium thoroughly and squeeze excess water off before lodging seeds into transparent plastic box
o   Insert the seeds half buried in the germinating medium with the opened scar end downwards
o   Placed the plastic box inside a 280-litre transparent storage box and covered with the storage box lid
o   Mist-sprayed everyday with very dilute H2O2 solution to prevent damping off or bacteria accumulation
Other information:
Soncoya is a good subject for pot culture and it can start fruiting in 1 to 3 years under optimal conditions
The fruit has medicinal uses in Mexico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annona_purpurea
https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/soncoya.html

Germination information from forum members: The information below was aimed at germination of ilama seeds but it can be applied for most Annona seeds, with good success rate even without the use of GA3
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=28910.msg327223#msg327223

I have considerable success using the above method in the germination of more-than-a-year-old seeds of pink/white ilama, atemoya, cherimoya and sugar apple. GA3 can really help with recalcitrant seeds like Annona.

Here're some photos, FYI:







I'm still a novice in growing Annona and let us share our experience and am hoping experts in the forum can give us a helping hand!

Stay safe and be happy!
Paul

[W.]

I bought some seeds from Trade Winds. Only two out of six seeds germinated. I may not have given the other four enough time before I threw them out. One of the two seedlings that germinated was always a sickly runt; it eventually succumbed. The remaining seedling is very strong and healthy. I have found over the past two years that it grows up to the size of whatever container it is in, if that makes sense. When it was in a seed starting container, it stayed small. When I up potted it to a small pot, it immediately grew in size, then completely stopped. I up potted it again to something larger, and it immediately grew again, then stopped. I will be placing it in a large pot in the spring; I have a feeling it will shoot up when I do so.

I have a feeling that, for someone who knows more about growing Annonas than I do, Soncoya is a very easy plant to germinate seeds from and grow. The one plant I do have has not given me any problems.

[mangolover143]

Hi W,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I've no luck with fruit seeds from Trade Winds except some rare vegetable and melon seeds.

You gave me encouragement that soncoya is a very easy plant to grow with vigorous growths always. I felt my soncoya are very healthy, outgrowing my 18 pink illama seedlings which were sown at the same time. I mist all my newly germinated seedlings with organic seaweed plant food and happy to see their glossy leaves getting bigger day by day.

Soncoya is a tropical, so I presumed you grow it in a greenhouse under zone 7b, right? How old is it? It is still in a big pot for easy management during winter time? Has it ever set any fruit for you? What are the fertilizer and water requirements? Kindly share. Thanks

Paul

[Tropical Bay Area]

Yeah um I just saw 3 seeeds for sale on Etsy, I can’t afford more

[W.]

Paul,

Trade Winds can be a little hit or miss in regards to germination rates. I have had great germination rates (80-90%) on some seeds; 0% on others. They have great prices and a great selection, which is why I continue to do business with them two or three times per year. But, your location in South Africa undoubtedly affects your germination rate of Trade Winds' seeds, since I would imagine it takes quite a while to mail seeds from California to you.

Your Soncoyas look excellent. I doubt you will have any problems as long as your seedlings are not kept too dry or too wet, pretty standard instructions there. The weak seedling in your third picture does not look like a Soncoya, though. Notice how all your other seedlings (and the seedlings I germinated) have reddish stems and large leaves. I think some other type of Annona seed must have gotten mixed in. Or, it could be some sort of hybrid between a Soncoya and another type of Annona. Baby it along until it fruits and see if you have something unique.

My Soncoya is under two years old and fairly small, so no fruit, yet. It does not get as much of a growing season as yours will get. Plus, I do not always up pot plants as soon as I should; mine sometimes get a little rootbound. My Soncoya falls into that category right now. I am going to step it up into a twelve-inch clay pot in the spring. I like clay pots, even though few other growers on Tropical Fruit Forum do, since it is much harder to overwater plants in clay pots. Eventually, it will outgrow the biggest clay pot I can get, and I will have to put it in a large plastic one.

I use Espoma citrus-tone for all my plants, plus homemade worm castings and compost. I water with what I jokingly call "organic water," rainwater which tends to get algae and other organic matter in it during my hot, humid summer. So the organic water also adds nutrients.

Right now, I do not have a greenhouse, but keep my plants in a plant room in my house during the winter. The rest of the year, they are outside. Building a greenhouse is one of those big projects coming up in the future, but I only want to ever build one greenhouse, so I am doing a great deal of research and planning before I start construction. Once I build my greenhouse, my Soncoya will probably be planted in the ground.

Best wishes on your Soncoya growing.

William

[Mike T]

Yes treat them like illama and 600ppm GA3 for 24hrs rather than 1000ppm might be better. I am not sure if bacteria are a problem and I didnt have fungal damping off issues but a weak fungicide solution after planting through the pot might work and keep them in a well aerated spot.

[Tropical Bay Area]

Yes treat them like illama and 600ppm GA3 for 24hrs rather than 1000ppm might be better. I am not sure if bacteria are a problem and I didnt have fungal damping off issues but a weak fungicide solution after planting through the pot might work and keep them in a well aerated spot.

Mike, how do you do the process of making it 0.06 GA3 and using that to sprout the seeds? Thank you

[Mike T]

Just be logical and perhaps think in metric because it easier for conversions. One gram per litre is 1000ppm so you need a rate of 0.6g/l. 100ml is more than enough and this would require o.06g. You need decent scales.
Once you have the solution at the concentration you need you can always wrap seeds in tissue and place in a shallow dish or even a jar lid and pour the solution over the top. You can use a bit less than just having the seeds bobbing around in the liquid. 24 hrs of soaking is a bit long but should be ok as there is a bit of leeway in the process. If the seedlings that sprout get too spindly and elongated  it is called etoliation and they usually dont survive.

[Tropical Bay Area]

Just be logical and perhaps think in metric because it easier for conversions. One gram per litre is 1000ppm so you need a rate of 0.6g/l. 100ml is more than enough and this would require o.06g. You need decent scales.
Once you have the solution at the concentration you need you can always wrap seeds in tissue and place in a shallow dish or even a jar lid and pour the solution over the top. You can use a bit less than just having the seeds bobbing around in the liquid. 24 hrs of soaking is a bit long but should be ok as there is a bit of leeway in the process. If the seedlings that sprout get too spindly and elongated  it is called etoliation and they usually dont survive.

I’m still confused sorry but I’m I don’t think I can risk it with 3 seeds so will they grow fine if I grow them in cocopeat? I don’t have the seeds yet but my soursop and Rollinia seeds from online haven’t sprouted Rollinia is 3 months so far and the seeds were 1 month old shipped form Hawaii, soursops are w months old shipped from Puerto Rico, all of them are in cocopsat and my fresh cherimoya seed sprouted after 3 months.

[WilliamTheYoungGrower]

Just be logical and perhaps think in metric because it easier for conversions. One gram per litre is 1000ppm so you need a rate of 0.6g/l. 100ml is more than enough and this would require o.06g. You need decent scales.
Once you have the solution at the concentration you need you can always wrap seeds in tissue and place in a shallow dish or even a jar lid and pour the solution over the top. You can use a bit less than just having the seeds bobbing around in the liquid. 24 hrs of soaking is a bit long but should be ok as there is a bit of leeway in the process. If the seedlings that sprout get too spindly and elongated  it is called etoliation and they usually dont survive.

I’m still confused sorry but I’m I don’t think I can risk it with 3 seeds so will they grow fine if I grow them in cocopeat? I don’t have the seeds yet but my soursop and Rollinia seeds from online haven’t sprouted Rollinia is 3 months so far and the seeds were 1 month old shipped form Hawaii, soursops are w months old shipped from Puerto Rico, all of them are in cocopsat and my fresh cherimoya seed sprouted after 3 months.

I personally had problems sprouting 20 Rollinia seeds from Hawaii. Dont know if they werent viable any more. I gave up a bought 2 seedlings instead

,William

[WilliamTheYoungGrower]

Hi W,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I've no luck with fruit seeds from Trade Winds except some rare vegetable and melon seeds.

You gave me encouragement that soncoya is a very easy plant to grow with vigorous growths always. I felt my soncoya are very healthy, outgrowing my 18 pink illama seedlings which were sown at the same time. I mist all my newly germinated seedlings with organic seaweed plant food and happy to see their glossy leaves getting bigger day by day.


Son coya is a tropical, so I presumed you grow it in a greenhouse under zone 7b, right? How old is it? It is still in a big pot for easy management during winter time? Has it ever set any fruit for you? What are the fertilizer and water requirements? Kindly share. Thanks

Paul

Out of curiosity Paul where did u purchase your Soncoya and Ilama seeds?

,William

[Tropical Bay Area]

Just be logical and perhaps think in metric because it easier for conversions. One gram per litre is 1000ppm so you need a rate of 0.6g/l. 100ml is more than enough and this would require o.06g. You need decent scales.
Once you have the solution at the concentration you need you can always wrap seeds in tissue and place in a shallow dish or even a jar lid and pour the solution over the top. You can use a bit less than just having the seeds bobbing around in the liquid. 24 hrs of soaking is a bit long but should be ok as there is a bit of leeway in the process. If the seedlings that sprout get too spindly and elongated  it is called etoliation and they usually dont survive.

I’m still confused sorry but I’m I don’t think I can risk it with 3 seeds so will they grow fine if I grow them in cocopeat? I don’t have the seeds yet but my soursop and Rollinia seeds from online haven’t sprouted Rollinia is 3 months so far and the seeds were 1 month old shipped form Hawaii, soursops are w months old shipped from Puerto Rico, all of them are in cocopeat and my fresh cherimoya seed sprouted after 3 months.

I personally had problems sprouting 20 Rollinia seeds from Hawaii. Dont know if they werent viable any more. I gave up a bought 2 seedlings instead

,William

Lol I made a mistake 2 months and I thought my cherimoya seeds were done for. Bought a seedling and turns out that it sprouted 3 months later and is now pushing out of the soil. I checked my Rollinia seeds from Hawaii and the embryo is still fresh and white