hg-t73

Hi,

I am a complete novice at planting things, so I could have killed my banana seeds before I even started.

I soaked my seeds for 24 hrs as instructed on the packet- then have put them on cotton wool, under a glass on a warm windowsill. (in UK so never really warm compared to a lot of your climates)
When I soaked the seeds, on floated and one sunk- does this mean anything?

They've been on the windowsill for about a fortnight now, how long should it take before anything happens?

Also, one appears to be growing some mould(?), I assume that is a bad sign- I wipe it off every couple of days.

If anyone can help, I'd be very grateful!

Hannah. xx

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jmoore

Floating is usually a bad sign, and I bet it's the mouldy one. So I would throw that one away.

Musa seeds usually need cooler temperatures at night and warmer tempertaures during the day. You'd be surprised how warm it gets under glass in the sunshine even in our climate.

You'd be lucky to get anything to germinate using two seeds. I plant hundreds and sometimes get nothing. If you're serious you need at least 50 in order to get an up to 5% germination rate. Again if you're lucky.

Have a look through the seed germination section.

Welcome btw

Eric

JMoore's right about the germination rate. Growing bananas from seed is tricky and many seeds are generally required. Also, each species of banana seed tends to have it's own unique traits. For example, Sikkimensis banana seeds do best if warm during daylight hours & fairly cool through the night.
Also, to avoid mouldy conditions, it's usually best to start with distilled water.
Definitely check those Seed threads. They are located near the "Tissue Culturing" section.