Acacia Germination

[Beaker]

Afer scarification of the seeds and placing in a sunny position in seed raising mix, how long would you expect before seeing a little green head ? Some places say 2 weeks others 2 months and because this is my first Acacia(s) I have NO IDEA...

(Due to lack of info on the web, I am keen to start my little project of creating a photo diary/documentation of Acacia Obtusifolia)

Thanks

Beaker

[ 28. October 2003, 10:58: Message edited by: Beaker ]

[Captain_Marshmallow]

When I sowed my Acacia maidenii I got cutting shears and cliped off one end. The end without the tiny dot. Then I lay them on the top of wet propagating sand with a thin layer of sand on top. The germinated and I saw its green head after about 6 days. I don't know if this would be different with obtusifolia.

Peace

[Felix]

Using hot water scarification, most of mine came up within a week, some took a little longer, but I think you'd rarely have to wait as long as 2 months.

[planthelper]

but i once was lucky to have one more phlebo comming up after 4 month's of wait...

but, we all agree alot come up after 7 days...

it's not only how fresh the seed's are what tetermends germination time.

some seeds might be programmed to germinate only after multiple re-wetting.

same as say brine shrimp eggs.

it's a safty device built in by nature.

[Felix]

planthelper:

...it's not only how fresh the seed's are what tetermends germination time.

some seeds might be programmed to germinate only after multiple re-wetting....

Or constant 100% humidity?

[mr b.caapi]

i soaked my maidenii seed in initionaly very hot water overnight, i then put in course sand.

they came up within a week.

[Plantsoma]

I have found most seeds have germinated for me as follows:

A. maidenii - 7 days

A. obtusifolia - 14-21 days

[druid]

Obtusifolia germination times:

I took a nailfile and aggressively filed off enough of the hard seedcoat on one side so that I could reveal a little of the flesh beneath. Then I soaked in hot water for 1 hour.

I germinated them between several layers of cosmetic facial tissue (hypoallergenic, of course!) in a ziplock plastic bag at close to 100% humidity by misting the facial tissue.

As soon as the radical's nipple or pimple appears (4-5 days), I opened the plastic bag wide open to lower the humidity to levels that the seedling would eventually be able to deal with. They will die afterwards if germinated at 100% for the entire process, in my experiments.

When the radicals were over an inch long or longer (another 4 days), they were planted in coco-peat cut with perlite (50%-50%) so as not to retain too much water, which they hate. They like to remain moist, but not wet.

Also, they seedlings seem to like a little fan blowing lightly over them, and respond best (for me) to 24/7 fluorescents for the first 3-6 months, or until they start to develop the elongated phyllode spears, which eventually replace the pinnate frondlings.

Add a little rhizobia bacteria from local acacias. I had none, but am using cowpea inoculant instead.

Good luck, and thanks to all of you out there who helped me with my germination project! It took a few tries, many acacia casualties, but the above method has yielded 100% germination and 100% survival of every single seed from Torsten.

Cheers, all! Go and grow 'em!

DRUIDDREAM

[ 30. October 2003, 01:52: Message edited by: druid ]

[strangebrew]

I'm presently trying this method. Has anyone else tried it?

How wet did you make the tissue?

I've folded 3 tissues in half, spread the seeds out half way up and sprayed enough water so the tissue is slightly damp.