How to Sprout Pouteria spp.

[elouicious]

Hey All-

Apologies if this is a repost or common knowledge, but based on a quick search I didn't see anything with this info on it-

Pouteria are a great tasting genus of fruits (in my opinion) that often really shine when used in recipes like milkshakes, ice creams, or pies. Growing Pouteria seems to be gaining some popularity on the board so I thought I would share this bit of info on the germination of most (if not all) Pouteria species.

You need to crack the outer shell to release the endosperm and embryo- there is a chance that seeds can do this on their own for germination but I have performed some tests on Pouteria lucuma and found the cracking and removal of the seed coat to be beneficial.

I recently got some Ross Sapote seed from palologrower and thought it would be a good opportunity to demonstrate pictographically-





You have to use some force to whack them (I usually use the back of a spoon or something) but be careful not to damage the endosperm very much-

[mikesid]

  I had some Eugenia rostrifolia seeds that werent sprouting after 6 months. I did the same thing and I cracked the outer shells and one just put out growth and another germinated. I used the back of a spoon too!

[elouicious]

  I had some Eugenia rostrifolia seeds that werent sprouting after 6 months. I did the same thing and I cracked the outer shells and one just put out growth and another germinated. I used the back of a spoon too!

Interesting- never heard of this in Eugenia spp.

I have often wondered about Chrysophyllum as the seeds seem to have a similar structure but I have always just put Eugenia in vermiculite

[Jaboticaba45]

This is the trick to speed up germination rates too.
Cinnamon apple took a year for me but 2 weeks for someone else after they removed the seed coat.

[Vegan Potato Man]

We use locking pliers to avoid exerting too much force and damaging the seed. You can set the seed in the pliers and screw them into position then either keep screwing or use the notches of the pliers to crack the seed coat.

Takes a lot of the error out of it.

[SDPirate]

Good to know other Pouteria are similar in that sense.  I had a mamey sapote fruit and the seed inside was already partially germinated and was cracked a bit already.  I simply used my hands and pulled it apart.  That was back in October, 70 days later and the leaves showed up and are growing slowly indoors for now (cold sensitive when young I believe).

[W.]

This is the trick to speed up germination rates too.
Cinnamon apple took a year for me but 2 weeks for someone else after they removed the seed coat.

Similar story for me. I had my cinnamon apple seeds germinating for about a month with no results. I was worried about losing them (as I am with all my seeds), so I dug them out of their seed starting trays and made cuts to their hard coverings. Germination was very quick, probably only a couple of weeks, after that. 100% germination rate after that little trick.

[Jaboticaba45]

Glad that worked for you. There has been many other seeds with that hard seed coat I tried to take off but ended up smashing them in the process.
One of the coupeia edulis seeds I tried to crack but ended up killing it. At least you can eat the seed...call me crazy, but I tried it and it was pretty good.

[W.]

Glad that worked for you. There has been many other seeds with that hard seed coat I tried to take off but ended up smashing them in the process.
One of the coupeia edulis seeds I tried to crack but ended up killing it. At least you can eat the seed...call me crazy, but I tried it and it was pretty good.

I used a small, very finely toothed saw (normally used for model making and very fine woodworking) to carefully cut through the hard shell. I had a feeling that, like you, I would smash the seed if I tried to actually crack the seed coat.

[BayAreaMicroClimate]

If you crack a pouteria seed in half by accident plant it anyway! This Pouteria pachycalyx sprouted into 2 trees

[Pouteria_fan]

I have found Pouteria seems to take a very long time to sprout in general.