My Garden, Seeds in Process- Final Part 3

Because I did not have much luck with my first attempt at germinating Date and Acai palm seeds, I ordered more.  This time I split the order between 2 different suppliers.  A second order from RarePalmSeeds in Germany and one from Seedman in the US.

Seed Germination Stimulation

Seedman sells a product specifically designed to stimulate seed germination.

I’m always apprehensive of any product that declares itself- ‘New and Improved’.  Makes me wonder if it really worked to begin with.  Yea… I know that sounds a little ‘flaky’, but if I can improve the odds of exotic seed germination, I’m all for it.

Seedman sez they use ‘Cape Seed Primer- Super Smoke Plus’ in their own nurseries.  It is a product from South Africa.  The packaging was in English and claims it is a general-purpose germination stimulant.  Each chemically treated paper disc is soaked in 50mls of water to recover the seed stimulant.

The 5 enclosed discs will produce 250mls of viable solution.

I ordered 2 sets of 5 at $15 per set since I knew I would need to treat 2 different sets of seeds.

Seemed pretty expensive to me…

On my first round of treatment, I soaked all the seeds I had.  There was no ‘untreated seed control set since I only have a few seeds of each variety.

Per the directions, seeds were soaked for 24 hours before planting in clean soil that had been lightly treated with Neem Oil to deter mold and fungus.

All of the seeds I’ve sprouted prior to this effort were done by using recycled (but washed) plastic domed, pastry trays from Walmart.  They measure about 10 x 10 inches and about 4 inches tall (with attached lid).

They work better if you leave the lids attached.

I acquired brand new, black plastic food service trays with clear domed lids that snap on for this new round of starts.  The trays are about 2 inches deep as are the lids.  They are rectangular in shape, but not as flimsy as the pastry trays.  I should be able to reuse them several times.

I like trays with lids because it keeps me from over-watering the seeds.  Plus I can tell if they need more water by how heavy the tray feels in my hand.

Seedman Seeds

The first batch of seeds for ‘treating’ included- Acai Palm, Date Palm, Tree Tomato, Strawberry Tree, Balsa Wood, River She Oak, Alma Fruit Tree, Cashew Nut, Wonderberry, Common Fig, Neem Tree and Date Plum.

The Date Plum was the riskiest one to try as it takes 6 to 12 months to germinate.

I’m not holding my breath on that one.  A few of the others could take several weeks to a couple of months.  I’m only looking to score 2 or 3 seedlings from each with the exception of the Date and Acai Palms.  I need a bunch of those.

There were also a few seed varieties from my first order with RarePalmSeeds that never got planted so I treated them too.

I’m not expecting much from them either, since they are now over a year old.  Those include more East African Fig, Mesquite, Tropical Raspberry, Cocona Berry, Chilean Guava and Chirimuya (Custard Apple).

RarePalmSeeds order #2

Besides the 11 new varieties of bamboo seeds ordered, I also scored more Dwarf Acai and Date Palm seeds.  There are also Wild Black Cherry seeds, Macadamia nut (Huge!), and 2 versions of Cacao seeds (red and yellow varieties).  Unfortunately, the Dwarf Acai seeds accidentally got left out of the order and came separately.

I withheld one Cape Seed Primer paper disk (to make 50ml of solution) for the Dwarf Acai seeds.

I diluted the solution 50:50 for the Cacao and Macadamia Nut seeds since I did not think sprouting the Cacao would be an issue and I wanted to soak the Macadamia for 2 to 3 days because of their hard outer shell.

It took 2 weeks to get my seeds from Seedman and 6 weeks for order #2 from RarePalmSeeds.  In fairness to RarePalmSeeds in Germany, they do state directly that seed orders usually take 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.  My first order from them took 28 days.

Details regarding the bamboo seedling effort are presented on my ‘other’ Puerto Rican site– the Isle of Bamboo.

This interest sprang from a need to secure the soil from being washed down the gully (hoya) at the back of the house.

Bamboo is used extensively for soil stabilization.  There used to be a concrete bridge to the other side, but as you can see, it got washed away by Hurricane Hortensia in 1996.

Think of all the seed starts and potted plants as ‘Phase 1’ towards getting a collection of assorted fruit and nut trees going.  I’m looking forward to the day I don’t have anymore seed trays or plants in pots… just trees in the yard, thank you.

I do not expect all the plant and tree varieties to prosper, but no one can say I didn’t try.

1st Update:
Successful Germinations

This 3rd and final report was prepared almost 2 months ago so I thought a short update was in order.

Of all the seeds I scored from Seedman, I only have one Balsa Wood plant to show.  NONE of the others have prospered.  Some need longer germination periods like the palms so I have not given up hope just yet.

I’ve also discovered that growing Figs from seed only works if you have the tiny wasps that pollenate the Fig buds.

Otherwise, the trees will drop all their fruit before maturity.

Some folks grow them as ornamentals… not me.  I want edible fruit.

The only other solution is to track down a parthenocarpic cultivar… I’m still working on that one.

RarePalmSeeds did a little better… I did get 4 bamboo species to produce 15 plants (out of 11 species/360+ seeds).  There are also 6 Dwarf Acai palms in pots as well as 2 more Date palm starts coming up.

That will give me a total of 7 Date palms.

My biggest surprise were the Macadamia nuts.

Out of 10 seeds
(I tried to open one
and it split in half so I ate it), I now have 6 Macadamia in
pots and looking real good!  These are suppose to produce nuts in as little as 4 years.

Of the seeds I had left over that never got planted, I now have 2 Mesquite trees coming up courtesy of RarePalmSeeds.  They look like barbed Mimosa.  I can taste the Texas style BBQ now…

All of the above seeds were treated with the expensive Cape Seed Primer.  I cannot say it did not help, but I will forgo using it again.

During this time, I also scored 2 more sets of seeds from Sadhu at Govardhan Gardens.  Out of 17 Sweet lime seeds, 14 sprouted.  There were also Bilimbi seeds of which 15 out of 17 sprouted.

Sadhu’s seeds are always fresh!

So I’m still looking to acquire fresh Cashew Nut, Tree Tomato, Strawberry Tree, Cocoa Tree and Neem Tree seeds.  And a few more bamboo species, if possible!

Wow…

this concludes where I’m at and what’s in the works.  Now it’s simply a matter of reporting on my progress.  An update to the sprouting seeds will follow as soon as I have something to report.

I will also report on my efforts at trying to germinate seeds I score locally.

A complete breakdown of what is growing on the property today, can be seen by clicking the tab- ‘Our Garden in PR’  in the Menu Bar above.  Other Posts relating to Gardening in PR can be seen from the link in the column on the right.

As always, there are larger shots on Roberto’s Puerto Rico- Facebook Page.  If you like it, please give me a ‘Like’.

I was thinking I might try to grow Georgia peanuts…
We like peanuts.

L8r, S. Dog

Major Update, July 1st:  Seedman has been kind enough to provide me with a second round of seeds at no charge.  It will be a couple weeks before I can get around to starting them, but I wanted to let everyone know how wonderful their customer service is.  After a brief chat, we think my problems with germination might have been due to some tainted bottled water.  We shall see.  A special arrg goes out to the Seedman!  ARRG!!!!