jmoore

After years of trying to get a Cheesemanii to germinate, in typical style loads arrive.

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AmberNichole

Not sure what it is, but congratz!

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Dean W.

Looks great, James!

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GONEBANANAS

Cool well done!!

jmoore

And here is an update

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GONEBANANAS

I am soooo jealous I still have just the one!!!! where did you purchase the seed for those ones James? if you don't mind me asking

jmoore

Marcus Senger, did I send you his email address?

GONEBANANAS

You sent me the German one but when I tried it bounced back, your are certainly looking good!!!

jmoore

Here is an update, they grow very quickly

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GONEBANANAS

They look very good indeed, I now have 2 Itinerans out of the 410!! don't think I will bother again

jmoore

You have to be patient and not give up. Try different things, use my method.

Where did you get the seeds from?

GONEBANANAS

my seed came from Sandeman seeds in france and some from Trebrown.

What method do you use

jmoore

This is for Musa

1. soak in boiled and cooled water containing 1 g/l epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) for 7 days for large seeds like sikkimensis or 3 days for small seeds like Velutina. (change solution every day)
2. place seeds in vermiculite contained in a plastic food saver with lid, you don't need to cover the seeds, it's easier if you don't (vermiculite was saturated with boiling water straight from the kettle and then drain the excess water; leave to cool)
3. If you are in the summer months, the daily temperature fluctuation either on a south facing window sill or in a conservatory should be enough to break the dormancy. Winter will need a heated propagator.
4. Check after a week and keep checking for any signs of the micropylar plug lifting and showing the emerging embryo then transfer the seed to multipurpose compost and keep warm, but with good air flow to try and prevent damping off.(If they are a no show, put them to one side and forget about them, sometimes they pop up when they fancy)

The sprout should start to show after another week or so.

If you bought from Trebrown, he only sells Ventricosum and Formosana (he collects these seeds himself from Taiwan), did you buy both? I've never heard of the French company.

I always buy from Europalms or from Marcus Senger and occasionally Rare Palm Seeds if I'm feeling rich. Quality seed is the key.

Ensete require the same treatment, but they require a more constant and higher temperature, but they can be a bit naughty and pop up when you aren't expecting.

Hope this helps.

GONEBANANAS

may be next time you order from the guy in Germany you could double up and we could pay half each? he never came back to me and i am sure the email went in the end.

musa_monkey

James, very interesting method. What is the significance of the epsom salts exactly ? I have tried a few things in the past but not epsom salts.
I appreciate it is a fertilizer of sorts.

I have a new batch of seeds coming from Jungelseeds soon and will try soaking some with a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution as it seems to work well with pups.

Great results on the Cheesemanii by the way

jmoore

I read a scientific paper on using magnesium sulphate to aid germination in a type of seed; unfortunately I've forgotten which type of seed, but they used a concentration of 1 g/l to soak the seeds as a control and they went right up to 5g/l before it started to show a detrimental effect.

It has definately spead up the germination time considerably.

My thinking is the seed needs to absorb nutrients in order to trigger germination, some micro nutrients are required for germination. They do get these nutrients through the germinating media, if you use compost, but the uptake is very slow. I think I'm speeding up the process.

I may try a very weak nutrient solution to see if that makes a difference.