Jump to content
The Corroboree

Recommended Posts

Hey all!

I had an almost 100% germination rate with boiling water and bunnings potting mix this year.

My question is - Why do i have such a poor germination rate with local sand/soil taken from an environment full of acacia species?

It doesn't make sense to me! 

Thanks again! :)  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not sure if I understand.... 

 

But native soil shouldn't be used In pots as it "behaves" In ways not conducive to containers. Classic example is too much clay so won't drain well, and poor porosity issues for soil /air

 

In a nutshell shouldn't put "dirt" in a pot and expect it to perform. The likely issue is it may not have drained well enough(?). Can amend it though... 

 

Decent growing media/potting mix is batched up to perform in containers and the constraints they have. 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
31 minutes ago, waterboy 2.0 said:

Not sure if I understand.... 

 

But native soil shouldn't be used In pots as it "behaves" In ways not conducive to containers. Classic example is too much clay so won't drain well, and poor porosity issues for soil /air

  

 In a nutshell shouldn't put "dirt" in a pot and expect it to perform. The likely issue is it may not have drained well enough(?). Can amend it though... 

  

 Decent growing media/potting mix is batched up to perform in containers and the constraints they have. 

Ah! I never thought about that, it would certainly be poor drainage.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Today I sowed some pretty old Acacia seed I had left, supposing it should be viable for many years. 

 

I sowed 2 types of acuminata plus 5 seeds of phlebophylla. Most of them I filed a bit and on a heating mat. 

 

How long do acacia seeds can stay viable? Should I hope I get some sprouting? 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, sagiXsagi said:

Today I sowed some pretty old Acacia seed I had left, supposing it should be viable for many years. 

 

I sowed 2 types of acuminata plus 5 seeds of phlebophylla. Most of them I filed a bit and on a heating mat. 

 

How long do acacia seeds can stay viable? Should I hope I get some sprouting? 

They stay viable for a long ass time.

I always pour boiling water over mine and leave them soaking for 12 hours though.

You should see sprouting with treated seeds :) 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I had tried in the past with sowing filed seeds (not heat mat though) and I had had medium to good success in sprouting. My problems were keeping the plantlets alive , and lost them both times eventually, before I got some to establish. So in theory I should be able to get some started with this very method. 

 

This time I have used used soil (super scientific, I know) as I do with my ephedra sowings and maybe the used soil has that symbiotic and helping bacteria the family supposedly requires this time. 

 

The time in the season also seems better, if I get some sprouting, I will have many months for them to get growing and even up-pot a bit until the heat of the summer. 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
7 hours ago, sagiXsagi said:

I had tried in the past with sowing filed seeds (not heat mat though) and I had had medium to good success in sprouting. My problems were keeping the plantlets alive , and lost them both times eventually, before I got some to establish. So in theory I should be able to get some started with this very method. 

  

This time I have used used soil (super scientific, I know) as I do with my ephedra sowings and maybe the used soil has that symbiotic and helping bacteria the family supposedly requires this time. 

 

The time in the season also seems better, if I get some sprouting, I will have many months for them to get growing and even up-pot a bit until the heat of the summer. 

Yeah sweet, whatever works for you man.

I dont trust myself enough to nick or sand the seeds - i find boiling water has less room for error.

I hope you get those phlebophylla up!!

 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am having germinations in both narrow and broad type acuminata in as low as 4 days, but the husk doesn't seem its totally freed. Maybe the soaking for half a day you mentioned would help a bit more with this. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm a fan of improvising with what you have. I use soil from my garden where acacias keep springing up. Mix in a bit of coir. Germinate in plastic containers inside a  transparent food grade plastic bag (recycle!! 4&5, 1&2 all the rest are bad for you) and then when they are an inch or so repot into plastic pots (or old yogurt containers with 0.5 cm holes at the bottom, don't use terracotta as it doesn't retain moisture) I put a layer of rocks at the bottom for extra drainage, and then a bit of home made compost. I've germinated accuminata, maidenaii and floribunda, the floribundas took  3 or 4 times as long to germinate, like I had given up on them :/ You can use an old piece of styrofoam as a heat mat as it retains heat. Rainwater is good for little plants as I don't think they like chlorine/ hard water

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Love to know what wattles i have  in the yard, finished flowering, now have brown pods, rather large also, also a possible rare wattle maybe also

 

 

Great work MooseZenus

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I got 5 seedlings acuminata going, yesterday I transplanted them in a biggy pot.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×