Anadenanthera colubrina germination?

gerbil · January 13, 2003

Hi,

Was wondering on how to germinate Anadenanthera colubrina seeds.

Using CSS yes, but how to posistion the seeds?

Lay them on top of the CSS?, slightly bury them verticaly, horizontaly?

any input would be greatly appreciated

gerbil

Torsten · January 13, 2003

I find that lying them on their side is best. the best way would be to actually position them upright, but then you would need to know whih way roudn they are - ie, half will be disadvantaged while the other half will be perfect. Lying on side is a good compromise.

When lying on side the radicle will simply grown down and in most cases upright the whole seed anyway (if not buried too deep). I actually don't bury most of my seed, but rather just sit it on the surface. I use a humidity dome to keep them moist enough to germinate. The few that don't germinate in the first few days are simply covered with a little sand before th dome is taken off.

if you prefer to bury them then just stick them in half way & vertically.

gerbil · January 13, 2003

thanks alot Torsten

was very helpfull!

-gerbil

planthelper · January 13, 2003

but please dont overwater them, most people

lost there plants soon after germination because of that, i didnt. the upperroot forms

sort of a tuber storing the water.once they

are older they are less sensitive! i planted

many of my colubrinas out in the wild, unfortunately they seem to be top notch food

source for some animals whilst small enough

to be pulled out...high drainage, yep is a must, i got the feeling it is a nitrogen fixing plant. the leaves will fold down(like

mimosa pudica) if there is too much stress.

dont think its thirsty and water it again,

you will kill it that way, as stated before.

even if dead above ground it will reshoot,

from the base.happy growing!

Fractalhead · January 20, 2003

After my disastrous (wasteful) attempt at germinating this precious seed in Cairns last year i realised i had underestimated the heat requirement of this seed for germination. I assumed the tropical warmth of cairns would be enough on its own to cause germination and that additional bottom heat would not be neccessary. Wrong. But since then i've been trying to come up with a method of supplying the required heat without having to buy anything (i have no money) before trying again. I hadn't come up with anything until the other day when someone suggested their technique (for germinating other heat requiring species) that should work.

The idea was: get an esky and fill it with very hot water (like water from the kettle or whatever) leaving enough room to put a plastic container (filled with vermiculite and sand or something like that) in the water so it is floating and have your seeds planted in that. Put the lid on the esky and leave overnight. By the time the temperature equilibrates throughout the esky and the soil and air, the temperature should be appropriate, the humidity should be high enough so that the medium or the seeds do not dry out, and the esky should keep the heat in long enough to get the things to germinate (I understand they come up literally overnight).

I know i can't afford to go and by materials to build a more permanent bottom heating setup at the moment and there is no way my mum will let me germinate seeds in her electric fry pan. I would imagine most people have access to eskies, plastic containers and hot water so i think that this might be a zero cost and low time-input solution to getting this precious plant going for people.

Am I correct in thinking that they are reasonably tolerant of temperature climate temperatures once actively growing? I hope so.

Good luck,

Fractal

gerbil · January 20, 2003

thanks for that info planthelper and fractal.

Fractal, if all fails, i'll give your method a go, sounds like a good one

will let you know what happens

gerbil

planthelper · January 21, 2003

a simple lightbulbe fixture can be put underneath

some shelving, or even put in an inflammeable box,

which has a sort of glasshouse structure on the top...

40 watts cover you a 35cm by 50 cm hotbox.

between the bulb and the pots ample space must be provided, using say dishes filled with sand.

the pots themselves rest on some glassshelving.

this apparatus was called a edwardian box and

"in the good old days" a kerosine lamp was the heatsource. co2 was so produced and some (now seemingly)impossible tasks were performed.

on ships those boxes transported stuff like the

pinapple to england. it got there propagated and than

sent of again to the colonies. gee, those people must have been good!

leave a hole in the box so you see if the bulb is burned out. this is a very cheap bottomheat divice. i dont take any responibility for your

handycraft skills, dont start fires...

Ed Dunkel · January 21, 2003

I simply potted some up in a sandy mix, put them in a little green house behind a sunny window and they popped up in two days. Down here in cold miserable Melbourne