how to germinate Annona crassifolia aka crassiflora

[Giannhs]

Hi! I have bought some Annona crassifolia seeds from rarepalmseeds.com and have tried to germinate them. Previously, i ordered 3 seeds of Annona crassifolia from tradewindsfruit but they were seized at the Greek post office so i lost them and wasted the price. That is not fair, because seeds from tradewindsfruit are sanitized and they pose no danger whatsoever, but they fell to the wrong hands and i cannot help with it. In the past i had received from tradewindsfruit, and even now others receive here; it depends on who will be the clerk at the customs house, and we have no way to find that out.
Now i have the seeds from rarepalmseeds, but rarepalmseeds has a bad habit of keeping their seeds until sold out, so you often buy old seeds. Now, Annona crassifolia seeds have a reputation of being hard to germinate, and in fact none of them has germinated so far. I asked the seller at rarepalmseeds and even they don't know about sprouting Annona crassifolia - they only buy and resell, they advised me to ask at a forum - that is HERE. Has anyone here sprouted Annona crassifolia? Your advice please! The fact that the seeds are difficult to germinate may also mean that the seeds are durable over long time, so it would not be too bad if they sell old seeds in this case - however some other Annonas like Annona montana have short-lived seeds. Anyway, nobody knows better than experience. Waiting for information, thank you!
Also, information on pollination of Annona crassifolia would be much appreciated.

[Jal]

Seeds of Annona crassiflora and A coriacea from Brazilian cerrado are very difficult to germinate, they need to be treated with a solution of gibberellic acid in water at 1000 ppm for one or two days. There are several published references about the germination of these species, which can be downloaded from the internet, although most are in Portuguese, you can translate with the translator or something similar. The seeds have morphological dormancy and need this type of treatment for embryo maturation and germination. As for pollination, it is mainly carried out by Scarabeideae Dinastinae, they are large beetles that, attracted by the smell and temperature, spend time inside the flowers, which are relatively large. In Greece I think you would have to pollinate manually, although I don't know if that's possible.

[tru]

humid (NOT wet) vermiculite in a bag, inside of something that blocks light, by a window

I think annonas in general are viable for a very long time, I watched a youtube video of someone germinating 3 year old cherimoya seeds with no problem. Granted these seeds were stored correctly and not left to dry out so results may vary... but don't give up!

[Giannhs]

thank you Jal and tru! I have vermiculite but not gibberellic acid, i must search to buy.
tru, i suppose "by a window" means a source of warmth, not light, since you say "inside of something that blocks light".

[Giannhs]

they need to be treated with a solution of gibberellic acid in water at 1000 ppm for one or two days.

As i m not familiar with gibberellic acid solutions, if the solution contains too little GA, i suppose it will not work. If the solution is too dense in GA, will that be bad for the seeds?
This sachet here https://www.ebay.com/itm/333653972174 contains one gram of GA; i dilute it in alcohol, then to how much water to make the seeds germinate?

[tru]

thank you Jal and tru! I have vermiculite but not gibberellic acid, i must search to buy.
tru, i suppose "by a window" means a source of warmth, not light, since you say "inside of something that blocks light".

yeah! sorry 

[Giannhs]

Hi, i went to a garden supplies shop to ask about Gibberellic Acid (GA), they did not sell that, but the shop keeper told me that GA is dangerous as it may "burn" the seeds. So i ordered some GA from the internet, and as i do not understand the terms like "1000 ppm", please somebody explain in plain terms, when i have a sachet with 1 gram of GA, i dilute it in alcohol and then in how much water so that it does not damage the Annona crassiflora seeds but stop their dormancy to make them germinate?

[elouicious]

oh boy-

my ga3 speech

Gibberrelins are natural plant hormones released during the seed sprouting process- by treating seeds you can sometimes "trick" seeds into thinking germination has started and then the molecular machinery is in motion.

The issues with proper use of GA3 are many, here are a few to consider if you are going to use it

As you mentioned you need to solubilize in alcohol- I aim for a 1% final alcohol concentration of my stock GA3 solution. Beer (the shit kind) is 3% alcohol and I would not pour it on my plants so if you can get closer to a 1% final solution of alcohol it is better. I have not had issues with solubilizing large amounts of GA3 in small volumes of pure ethanol.

Next the concentration which is beneficial is variable for species- and overdosing or underdosing will kill your seed or be ineffective respectively. Since there is very little research on the species we grow here, a general recommended starting dose is in the 100-500ppm range. There should be online calculators available where you can put in the volume of water, concentration you want and it will tell you how much GA3 to weigh. Solubilize that amount of GA3 in the minimal amount of alcohol and dilute with water to the final volume. I generally make a stock of 4000ppm and then dilute that 1:10 for seed soaking.

Finally, GA3 actually inhibits root development if it is in the planting medium. If you plan to use it, soak the seeds in a GA3 solution for 24-72h and then remove from the solution and plant the seeds in your favorite medium. (mine is 100% vermiculite bvut you have to be careful about asbestos)

This method has worked for many old seeds in a few trials I ran- but is laborious. GA3 expires as well so you will need to make new solutions every once in while. That said 1g should last you years

[tru]

great info, if I could bookmark a certain post I would!

[kittycatus]

I use a miniature porcelain mortar and pestle to grind GA3 into a very fine powder, followed by wet grinding with a small amount of RO water. Then I mix the slurry into RO water to get the final concentration. I find this to be faster than trying to dissolve it in alcohol, and there is zero alcohol residue.

[Jal]

The dilution of the gibberellic cid product is done at 1gr to 1l of water. This ratio represents 1000ppm. I get success this last month with seeds of Annona coriacea, almost all seeds germinated in few days, but each species is different. If you want to make it stronger or weaker , just add or subtract the product in the same proportion of water , that is 2000ppm = 2gr for every 1 liter of water, 500ppm = 0.5gr for 1 liter of water.
1 liter of water is enough to treat many seeds, so to avoid wasting it, divide the amount you bought into portions of 0.2 grams, maybe a laboratory or pharmacy can do this for you. Every 0.2 grams I make 200ml of solution and it is enough for a lot of seeds. Now here's the thing: before diluting the product in water, first it is necessary to dilute it in alcohol as follows: place the 0.2 g in a small cup, add 3 or 4 drops of alcohol and stir with a chopstick until completely diluted. If necessary, add a few more drops of alcohol.
Once the product is diluted, just top up with the volume of water and soak the seeds for the desired time.

[Giannhs]

Thank you all, very useful theory and detailed practical information.
At present it may sound like "the fish are in the sea and the frying pan is on the fire", but if you know about pollination of Annona crassifolia, information would be much appreciated.