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Seed sources

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KarenRei:
I'm about to do a round of seed-buying for my indoor tropical plant collection. I normally prefer live plants, but it's just so hard to get live plants up here to Iceland; at this point in time, it's going to be seeds, which are easy to get a permit for. I'm wondering if you all could recommend a good source for exotic tropical seeds. I've bought seeds from various suppliers in the past; sometimes I get high germination rates, sometimes essentially nothing germinates, and I imagine a big part of it is how fresh the seeds are.

Also, what plants would you *not* recommend growing from seed - that is to say, I know that a lot of plants are *best* to grow from cuttings (monoembryonic mango, for example), but what is so unlikely to work out well (for example, 90% odds of taking 15 years to produce a gross-tasting fruit) that it's not even worth bothering? It's not impossible to get live plants up here, but it's difficult. They either have to be very little and snuck in in one's luggage (which requires a bit of luck, and of course it means I already must have an overseas trip planned, which due to various factors hasn't been possible recently), or be exported from a licensed grower with an export permit who's willing to go through the trouble of exporting to Iceland (there aren't many and they can be expected to charge a premium, on top of what will already be very high shipping costs).

(My parents are coming in June, mind you, so it might be possible if I ask really nicely to convince them to try to sneak a couple live plants to me, if they're small enough.  But I know they won't be like me and take 4-foot trees on a plane or 20 plants to a suitcase or whatnot  ;)  )

I haven't been on the forum for a while, so just a quick update: when last I was here a number of my plants had died from a combination of spider mites and an adverse reaction to my control mechanism. Thankfully, there's been no more bad news and everything that made it is doing great. For example, banana has pupped three times, my barbados cherry is monstrous and in bloom, and my goldenberries have fruit on them. Yeay! :) And some plants pretty much came back from the dead, like my passionfruit, which on top of everything else also had developed scale. It's now regrown so much that I wouldn't be surprised to see it try flowering again in a month or two.

Oh, and I'm in the planning stages of building a home, and I've got all sorts of fun ideas for my plants - my favorite of which is to have all of the primary home lighting have to filter through the leaves of adjacent plants (in floodable chutes) before entering the house, so 100% of the light emitted is used either for growth or home lighting.

Tomas:
Hi KarenRei,

I can give you a few suggestions not because I know a lot but because of personal experience - I also grow fruit plants indoors in pots. I would like to suggest some nice Eugenia species and red jaboticaba - should fruit for you rather quickly.  I grow both inside and even without any kind of artificial lighting or special care they are very healthy with continuously new growth.

Tomas

KarenRei:
Thanks.  Any suggestions on seed suppliers?  Any plants that would be hopless to try?

Also I was thinking about mangos, since I lost my carrie right after she bloomed  (:þ).  Any recommended polyembryonics I could try (remember: indoor-only pot-grown, so nothing that can't be gotten to fruit at under 30 feet or the like  ;)  )?  I'm thinking maybe I should start a bunch and then narrow down later.

murahilin:
tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=204.0

Here is a list of seed sources. Hope it helps.

Tomas:
Hi KarenRei,

Perhaps you can get an Import Permit for plant material like scions, if Island issues those? Then you can from from seeds and then happily graft yourself.

Tomas

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