Voacanga Africana

[Stonehenge]

Feel free to chime in with your own stories of raising this plant. Mine are about 3 or 4 years old but might be older than that. I lost track. To sprout the seeds you need to put them through a wet dry cycle. You can't just put them in the wet and expect them to sprout. That would be too easy. You can soak them in peroxide for a short while to sterilise the outside and then put them in damp paper or the like for a couple days. Then dry for a few days and back into the wet. One cycle may do it or they may need two such cycles. After they sprout just raise them like any normal delicate plant.

They like warmth and can't take freezing. Mine do fine in direct sunlight outdoors. They are fond of ferts. I just look at the leaves and if they seem to be getting a little pale it's time to fert them again. The only pests I've had with them were spider mites which took a few weeks of spraying to get rid of and whitefly which weren't too big a problem though indoors it would be more of a problem.

Here is the latest thing I've learned about these plants. While it's generally said that they can't take any cold at all, even 10 degrees C is too cold, I've found that isn't always the case. Mine died back a couple years ago when they were left outside during a cold night, it was about 10 or so. However, recently they've had some cold weather that I forgot to take them in from and they did fine. It got down to no more than a couple degrees above freezing and they didn't even drop a leaf. I think they grow used to it as they get older. Do not try this with your younger plants.

[Torsten]

good write up. seed freshness can't be overemphasised. the drier the seedcoat the more you have to wet/dry cycle the seed. we've done it up to 20 times over 9 months and still got stragglers germinating. we found that seed straight out of the pod doesn't need the cycling, but it does need heat.

we'll have about 30 plants [seedlings] available in the next few weeks. The only ones for this season.

[Stonehenge]

My VA have never flowered so far. Probably they never will though I'm in a semitropical area and I'm still hoping. Has anyone ever gotten them to flower? I also have hopes for my kratoms but they haven't flowered either though I heard from someone who said his did.

Has anyone used the leaves of VA for anything? I never tried them but supposedly they can be used. Mine drop leaves every so often and grow new ones. It grows kind of like a palm tree with the old leaves dropping off and getting taller with new growth.