Tropical Fruit > Tropical Fruit Discussion
Trouble with ordering/germinating salak
Infinite Garden:
Hi all. I'm having trouble germinating Salacca zalacca from seeds. I have purchased salak seeds and most of them arrive no longer viable. The ones that arrive no longer viable have fully or partially germinated. Some arrive with the tips of the reddish shoots dried out and continue to dry out and then rot. Some arrive with the emerging white root either dry looking or soft and rotting, and then after awhile it rots completely, leaving a hole where the root would emerge from, and then I get nasty tiny white larvae eating the rotted seed (I think it's fungus gnat larvae but not sure). The seeds that didn't arrive germinated haven't done much and a few of them rotted too. I'm considering whether or not to buy more seeds in hopes that if I buy more, some will arrive viable, but want to see if anyone else has difficulty with ordering salak seeds.
For context, I put them in a mix of potting soil, seed starting mix, perlite, and vermiculite. They are on a heat mat (indoors) and covered to keep the soil moist and maintain humidity. Shipping time was less than a week, if that's relevant.
happyhana:
My advice would be to not use soil. Best results have been with either a slightly damp paper towel or vermiculite in ziplock on heat mat but not directly
Also, buy from reputable sellers who only supply fresh and viable seeds. This can take some trial and error and money lost. Rotten dried or full of bugs is not a great starting point.
Finca La Isla:
Sounds to me like the problem is the fault of the seed seller. Good salak seeds should work well if shipping time was only 1 week. The seeds weren’t fresh when shipped.
Peter
Infinite Garden:
--- Quote from: happyhana on March 25, 2025, 03:12:50 AM ---My advice would be to not use soil. Best results have been with either a slightly damp paper towel or vermiculite in ziplock on heat mat but not directly
Also, buy from reputable sellers who only supply fresh and viable seeds. This can take some trial and error and money lost. Rotten dried or full of bugs is not a great starting point.
--- End quote ---
Thank you for your advice. If I buy more, I will try the paper towel or vermiculite only method you explained.
Infinite Garden:
--- Quote from: Finca La Isla on March 25, 2025, 08:14:09 AM ---Sounds to me like the problem is the fault of the seed seller. Good salak seeds should work well if shipping time was only 1 week. The seeds weren’t fresh when shipped.
Peter
--- End quote ---
I think so too but I think selling seeds that aren't fresh is very common. I'll look for other sellers as well before I give up.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version