Can you help me grow ma huang/ephedra sinesis

[Gelstyles]

Hi. I am trying to grow some ephedra. I am new at growing things so I am not too educated. I was told after I planted the seeds that you should put seeds in hot water for about two days. Is this correct? What esactly do you do and why? Should I do it with ma huang seeds? Also are there any tips for growing ma huang? Anything would help, like giving it nutrients and how much water. I am so dense at planting I dont know how much to water them. I have had the plants in for about two weeks now but they have not germinated. I read that cold nights prolong germination.

Also, if anyone knows where to get some ephedra herb in perth or australia please let me know. That would save me growing it.

Thanks heaps.

-GEL-

[kenny]

I cant answer all your questions sorry, I'm a bit of a newbie at this myself.

As for soaking the seeds though. Sometimes the seed shell can be quite hard and or dense, so soaking it will soften the outside and allow water to be absorbed better (more so than it would if it were just sitting in damp soil). Put them in a glass of warm water for about 6-12 hours, watch for when they swell up. Then plant them.

Also, you may want to consider scoring the seed with some light sandpaper or scissors if your careful, a bit to help absorption of water. If you google ' ephedra cultivation ' or something like that im sure you will find a bunch of info.

Generally you don't want to over water seeds/seedlings but it can vary on how much is 'too much'. Try looking into where the plant comes from and its native conditions.

Is it native in desert areas? or rain forests? ect.. This should give you an idea on how to treat it.

Have patience too. I planted my first Peganum Harmala seedlings about 2 weeks ago. After about a week I discovered that I had used the wrong kind of soil. However , yesterday about three of them popped up

There is stacks of info online about growing all these plants. You just need to dig around.

Good Luck.

[Chiral]

I cant answer all your questions sorry, I'm a bit of a newbie at this myself.

As for soaking the seeds though. Sometimes the seed shell can be quite hard and or dense, so soaking it will soften the outside and allow water to be absorbed better (more so than it would if it were just sitting in damp soil). Put them in a glass of warm water for about 6-12 hours, watch for when they swell up. Then plant them.

Also, you may want to consider scoring the seed with some light sandpaper or scissors if your careful, a bit to help absorption of water. If you google ' ephedra cultivation ' or something like that im sure you will find a bunch of info.

Generally you don't want to over water seeds/seedlings but it can vary on how much is 'too much'. Try looking into where the plant comes from and its native conditions.

Is it native in desert areas? or rain forests? ect.. This should give you an idea on how to treat it.

Have patience too. I planted my first Peganum Harmala seedlings about 2 weeks ago. After about a week I discovered that I had used the wrong kind of soil. However , yesterday about three of them popped up

There is stacks of info online about growing all these plants. You just need to dig around.

Good Luck.

well done..that is one plant I haven't got my head around yet..from my reading it can be painfully slow to germinate..I sowed some 2 months ago and they still haven't shown me anything..well now after your post I'm thinking the seed wasn't viable. I have read that they like very dry arid conditions and doesn't like or respond well to over watering. Good luck with yours..I will try again with this plant...you have given me hope..as I see you are way south of me too...that gives me even more hope to conquer the mighty Rue.

H.

[kenny]

Yes I am getting the feeling that the rue is going to take a long time to get moving.

In comparison to my Ipomea seedling (the only one of 8) that showed itself, a few days earlier, and is already about 4-5" tall. These little buggers are barely 1cm tall and two of them still seem too weak to actually take their helmets off (I will coin that term for the seed shell)

The weather has been consistently warm and quite humid in the shade house. I never soaked the rue seeds, but I had been misting the soil every day to keep it moist. Potted in some cheap seed mix. (so based on that... my conditions were almost the opposite to what this plant supposedly needs)

I will keep an eye on these, but also plan to sow another batch soon with more care put toward keeping the soil Alkaline.

Anybody out there with hot tips on growing these?

[Chiral]

Perhaps we can load up some tips on growing this and Ephedra in the gardening tips thread. Oh also i have read that others that have tried growing Rue have had the seedlings come up then do nothing for months and suddenly just keel over and die...tis a difficult one to grow by all accounts.

H.

[ENtiTY]

There are some threads on the corroboree on this topic already. Do some searching and reading.

I will add that ephedra can be tricky to grow from seed (not that there is any other way), especially sinesis. Fresh seed makes things a lot easier and then getting them past their seedling stage is the next hurdle. If you are able to get seed of another ephedra species such as major you might have a less frustrating time. IMO not a genus to be dipping your proverbial toe in the horticultural waters. I have played with ephedras quite a bit in my past and found sinesis to be the most tempramental, other members may have different experiences and therefore formed different opinions. Then again maybe sinesis is just my Elanore.

Best of luck.

[Sassy]

I have 0 seedlings from 150 attempts at ephedra sinensis.

On a good day about 30% gerardiana work for me .

Good luck , you'll need it .

[bℓσωηG]

Would adding a little lemon juice to the water whilst soaking help? as this may replicate the passing through digestive juices of birds which naturally disperse the seeds after eating the fruit?. just a thought as i have had no sucess either.

[AndyAmine.]

I believe vinegar is the go, depending on how thick the coat of the seed your working with is, soaking from 12hrs up to a couple of weeks is OK.

[Neoshaman]

I believe vinegar is the go, depending on how thick the coat of the seed your working with is, soaking from 12hrs up to a couple of weeks is OK.

ok I have been toying with this idea also after plantinga little before christmas and so far havinga grermination rate of 0/20, so anyone used this method how diluted should the vinegar be if using say something like,cornwalls whitte vinegar ? i'm currently using a standdard store purchased cactus mix anyone out there recommend a better grow medium?

also anyone know of a good ssource for E. gerardiana, E.major, E.helvetica and E.dystachia seeds?

[the germinator]

I've had pretty good results with ephedra seed (compared to what I've heard).

I lightly sand along the seeds edge/seem or whatever it's called, just enough to weaken the shell then, soak overnight in warm water (on top of heated reptile enclosure)

then plant out in very loose, sandy seed raising mix. Don't let the ground dry too much. For about the first 8 - 12 months the plants need a decent amount of watering, after that stage they become pretty hardy and drought tolerant.

I water my mature Ephedra plants once a week with miraclegro in summer, in winter it's more like once a month.

That's about all I know.

Good luck, more people should grow this plant!!!

EDIT; They usually germinate within 1 - 2 weeks, I've never had 1 take more than about 20 days.

Edited January 13, 2009 by the germinator

[Conan Troutman]

bastard things...had mine on the edge of death since i got it (1yr?)...grows, yellows dies back...comesback

do what everyone else says to do and grow sp. major

[planthelper]

if the go yellow and die back, and than come back, than they are not pampered enough, so increase the waterings, step, by step, and the fertilizer, and they will go green and strong.

major grows well and big, but unfortunately, the alkaloid profile seems to rather tend, to have effects on the bloodvessels, but not to give you much oompf.

but it's conceavable to me that, some plants of the same species and batch might, posess more of the wanted actives.

[DreamingNagual]

Great tips people!

Definately worth adding to the Gardening Tips Thread Hunab!

Would anyone be interested to do a trade with me for some E.Major or another Cultivar of this Species?

Ephedra & Rue have been one of my biggest challenges to grow down here in Tassie!

Also A.Nervosa seems to be teasing me by growing to the second or third set of Leaves & then Dying off on me everytime "Insert Crying Smiley here"

Edited January 13, 2009 by DreamingNagual

[cokemachine]

Hi.. long time lurker first time poster..

someone i know is trying to grow ephedra and has had no luck yet getting sinica or major seeds to germinate, having tried CSS etc with no luck has done some more reading and keeps coming across this abstract which mentions treating seeds with GA.. can anybody in the know tell me is this Gibberellic Acid? and where can he get some from in oz..?

Ephedra Sinica Germination Research

also wondering if shaman-australis is likely to have any more ephedra seeds for sale in the near future, or if anyone knows of any other source in oz, pm's welcome.. happy to compensate and would be forever grateful as my friend would much rather drink a tea than pop pills for congestion. not looking to farm it, just wants one plant and he will die a happy man.

[Hashassian]

ive tried everything trying to get mine to germinate for the last 2 freakin years!

outdoors

indoors with lights, controlled enviroment

moister, no moister

hormones, water soaking, kind words, harsh words, music, cuddling late at night....still nothing!

Ive even given them to a friend that owns a nursery and still nothing.

im sticking with sida cordifolia

[Flip]

The seeds may just be bad

Or there's a bad technique.

Here's a quick and still roughly described method that I've used with success

Flips hard seedcoat germination