- Joined
- May 2, 2009
- Messages
- 1,956
I've been in Kauai since last Thursday and now I'm back! I also brought back a revived addiction of mine; planting. I got a bunch of stuff from the only WalMart on the whole island.
Plants & cuttings
3 Red Anthurium
3 Arundina graminifolia (bamboo orchid)
2 Alpinia purpurata (red ginger)
Seeds
3 Ipomoea pescaprae (beach morning glory)
3 Litchi chinensis (lychee)
10 Merrimia tuberosa (woodrose)
#? Psidium guajava (common guava)
#? Carica papaya (Hawaiian papaya)
Yesterday, I laid the seeds out in containers of luke warm water over a towel covering a heat mat for muscle pain. Each container is covered with plastic wrap. The only seeds I nicked were the Merrimia because the seeds are so hard; chipped with a toe-nail clipper at the small end of the seed.
The Merrimia have since swollen up as big a round as a quarter. Removed them from the water in the mug and replaced it with moist peat moss and a little iron red clay. Placed seeds and covered with an inch of peat. Plastic wrap was replaced and the mug put back on the mat.
Merrimia
I'll return to the guava but it will take two weeks at least for them to soak to promote germination. May not even germinate for eight weeks...
Out of 3 baggies of papaya seed I soaked 24 hrs. 26 of the seeds were floaters and are unlikely to germinate. Put those in a random pot in the sunroom. The rest were placed on top of a piece of moist paper towel and put into a plastic baggy I stapled closed to retain moisture. The baggy is also put back on the mat until sprouting occurs.
After 24 hrs. the Ipomoea seeds were removed from the water (will float no matter what. That's how they are dispersed) and the cup filled to one inch below the rim with moist %50 sand, %30 peat moss and the rest a mix of the iron red clay and potting soil. The seeds are put in 1/2 an inch deep and the plastic wrap replaced over the rim and the dish back on the mat. Beach morning glory aren't especially picky.
The three lychee are still soaking in the warmed water. The seeds are quite hard.
Ipomoea
Seeds of papaya, guava, beach morning glory, lychee and woodrose on top of the heating mat.
The Anthuriums, Alpinia and Arundina are all still in their seperate purchase baggies. I've started to add cuts in the Anthurium bags so they can adjust to the new climate. 4 cuts yesterday and cut just the tops of the Anthurium bags today. Only other plant I've cut the bag of besides the Anthurium is one of the bamboo orchid; which is already sending up new growth. I carefully cut a hole for just the foliage so it wouldn't get wet and soggy from the condensation.
I'll keep this updated. Hopefully I get something out of the seeds. The hardest ones to grow are probably going to be the lychee and guava. Never tried lychee but none of my guava, kona or macadamia seeds five years ago ever sprouted when I soaked them in room temperature water and put them in soil pots in a sunny area of the garden.
With the plastic wrap method, I've gotten to sprout kiwi, plumeria (just 2), strawberry and papaya. Usually they died of either spider mites, fertilizer burning or not putting them into a pot with drainage holes. Mistakes happen in the garden hobby, too.
Plants & cuttings
3 Red Anthurium
3 Arundina graminifolia (bamboo orchid)
2 Alpinia purpurata (red ginger)
Seeds
3 Ipomoea pescaprae (beach morning glory)
3 Litchi chinensis (lychee)
10 Merrimia tuberosa (woodrose)
#? Psidium guajava (common guava)
#? Carica papaya (Hawaiian papaya)
Yesterday, I laid the seeds out in containers of luke warm water over a towel covering a heat mat for muscle pain. Each container is covered with plastic wrap. The only seeds I nicked were the Merrimia because the seeds are so hard; chipped with a toe-nail clipper at the small end of the seed.
The Merrimia have since swollen up as big a round as a quarter. Removed them from the water in the mug and replaced it with moist peat moss and a little iron red clay. Placed seeds and covered with an inch of peat. Plastic wrap was replaced and the mug put back on the mat.
Merrimia
I'll return to the guava but it will take two weeks at least for them to soak to promote germination. May not even germinate for eight weeks...
Out of 3 baggies of papaya seed I soaked 24 hrs. 26 of the seeds were floaters and are unlikely to germinate. Put those in a random pot in the sunroom. The rest were placed on top of a piece of moist paper towel and put into a plastic baggy I stapled closed to retain moisture. The baggy is also put back on the mat until sprouting occurs.
After 24 hrs. the Ipomoea seeds were removed from the water (will float no matter what. That's how they are dispersed) and the cup filled to one inch below the rim with moist %50 sand, %30 peat moss and the rest a mix of the iron red clay and potting soil. The seeds are put in 1/2 an inch deep and the plastic wrap replaced over the rim and the dish back on the mat. Beach morning glory aren't especially picky.
The three lychee are still soaking in the warmed water. The seeds are quite hard.
Ipomoea
Seeds of papaya, guava, beach morning glory, lychee and woodrose on top of the heating mat.
The Anthuriums, Alpinia and Arundina are all still in their seperate purchase baggies. I've started to add cuts in the Anthurium bags so they can adjust to the new climate. 4 cuts yesterday and cut just the tops of the Anthurium bags today. Only other plant I've cut the bag of besides the Anthurium is one of the bamboo orchid; which is already sending up new growth. I carefully cut a hole for just the foliage so it wouldn't get wet and soggy from the condensation.
I'll keep this updated. Hopefully I get something out of the seeds. The hardest ones to grow are probably going to be the lychee and guava. Never tried lychee but none of my guava, kona or macadamia seeds five years ago ever sprouted when I soaked them in room temperature water and put them in soil pots in a sunny area of the garden.
With the plastic wrap method, I've gotten to sprout kiwi, plumeria (just 2), strawberry and papaya. Usually they died of either spider mites, fertilizer burning or not putting them into a pot with drainage holes. Mistakes happen in the garden hobby, too.
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