eric27

Ok so I'm about to give up on these but I did get a bunch more of Musa Formosana seeds and they are soaking right now. I can't even tell you how many I have tried since Oct that haven't germinated. I was wondering if anyone has any advice on getting this one to germinate, even just one seed would be nice. Before I start screaming and have to start begging for a plant! When I first saw this one it became one of my most sought after plants and I can't get one to germinate for anything. I have tried constant heat, alternating heat, ignoring them. I checked some of the of the older ones I started and the seeds were somewhat soft, and a few of them I could break in half between my finger nails pretty easily. Is this normal? Or was that a sign that they could germinate soon? The insides were almost like a white liquid. The embryo was not firm.

Any adivce on germianting them would be great!
Eric

Dean W.

How long has it been? It took almost two months for mine to pop, but that was during the summer.

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aroidgrower

Try scaring a few seeds and soaking them, then planting to see if this is the problems. In a lot of cases the seed coat is so thick and hard it can take months or years for the moisture to penetrate the seed coating. I believe that is why fresh seed sprout easier due to seed coat not being as tough and hard. As they are after drying out.

eric27

Thanks guys for your responses.

Dean-Oh 3 or 4 months ago I think I planted the first seeds. Probably back in late Oct. Did you do anything special?


Brian-Thanks I'll try that. In the past I use to use sandpaper and rough up the coat before soaking. I had a lot of luck with that. I got away from that recently for some reason, and have not had as much luck with germination. Do you just rough up the outside with sandpaper/file, or do you actually nick the coat until you see the white inside?

Dean W.

Nothing special just planted in community pots with seed starting mix.

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aroidgrower

I would nick 10 or 20 till you see some white starch inside. Then soak them for 2 days in warm water change the water daily. I would place them on a heating mat at around 80 to 95f. It seems they respond well to heat. Once sprouted and producing some true leaves pot them up and keep warm 65F 85F. I personally notice any seeds that float are usually useless and dead. Also once the seeds are on the heating pad they should swell up slightly.

I also had some luck years ago with canna musa and other hard seeds that were placed in a air tight plastic container in a greenhouse. A few ounces of water was placed in the container and it was given full sun and heated to around 90F to 120F. Seeds would pop to life daily in this container and would have to be taken out and replanted in a cooler area as well as regular water changes. A seedling left for 3 to 5 days would die in such temps but it did seems to break dormancy for a lot of the seeds.

eric27

Thanks Dean. Maybe I'm trying too hard!

Brian, I just tried what you said with about 15 of them, also with some Burmese Blue. So I'll see what happens. Thanks for the advice. This time I'm actually keeing track of which ones are nicked/scarpaed and which ones aren't. So if anything germintes I'll be able to tell which ones they are. That is interesting what you said about just having them in a container with a little water and germinating so quickly. I'll have to try that this srping/summer.
Eric

jmoore

Eric if they are soft with a liquid centre (yummy) sounds like they are rotten.

When I grew these I can't remember my reasoning, but I put them in the fridge for week before soaking them for a week. I got nearly 100% germination, they were very fresh seeds though.

eric27

Ha! Yeah James it really did look yummy! I kinda thought as much. Thanks for your feedback. I thought about doing doing the whole cold stratification thing on some but didn't. Now maybe I should have. I think the freshness of the see makes a big difference as you noted.