Bananaman88

I have some M. sikkimensis seeds (only 5) that I sowed back in Feb. 2007 that are still showing no signs of germination. I've had them in 4" pots and outside the whole time. I thought that putting them through the temperature changes of our "winter" here in the Houston area might help to initiate germination. I've grown alot of things from seed with good results but banana seeds definitely seem to be the most difficult that I've encountered.

My question is do I wait a little longer or should I throw in the towel? I hate to just throw them out as they certainly aren't too hard to take care of in their current state, I just make sure that the media stays moist. Any suggestions? I keep hoping that they'll germinate at some point as I've read that it can sometimes take close to two years!

sandy0225

check out the seeds and make sure that fungus gnats, fungus etc hasn't already gotten to them. If not, they might still make it. But it sure seems less likely.
I'd probably toss them myself, but then again it would still take me a couple more years to get around to that too. It's cloudy this morning or I wouldn't have time to be on here today.

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Dean W.

Brent, good luck with you seeds. I have some veluntinas I am almost ready to give up on.

Dean

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Bananaman88

I haven't seen any fungus gnats flying around the pots at all. I guess I should dig down and find the seed again. The last time I did this they looked exactly like they did when I planted them.

Randy4ut

I am not sure what I would do. Last fall ('06) all the velutina seeds that I did not give away, went to a friend of mine that potted them up and about forgot about them. In the fall of '07, almost to the year, my friend called me and told me that they all sprouted at once? I am not sure what exactly "triggers" seeds to germinate, but that sure seemed like a long time to take. If they are not in the way and you can half way keep an eye on them, why not keep them and see what happens when the weather really heats up. If they do not germinate by this coming fall, then I might definitely give up on them. Just my 2 cents worth...

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xavierdlc61887

never hurts to have them around and keep watering them if they germ they will if they dont well u know they arent viable anyways keep them another season and see what happens my velutina seeds i got from randy started germing just this last and this month took 5-6 months but hey dont give up

mskitty38583

just about the time your ready to throw it in the compost pile...you get a little sprout of green. this happens all the time. maybe youll get a surprise in a few days.

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natedogg1026

Got a heat mat?

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Banana's are a safe addiction. Right?Maybe I need classes.

Bananaman88

Thanks to all for the advice. I had already planned on keeping them a bit longer anyhow, I just wanted to hear everyone's opinion on the subject. I do not have them on a heat mat; however, they were out in the Houston heat all last summer!

Lagniappe

Brent ,
I have a "discard pile" for seeds and have had a few to germinate this year .They're at least a year old and were left to the weather .
The only problem is that I don't know which of a half dozen varieties they are !
So never give up ,they may eventually suprise you .

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Lard Greystoke

I've had tropical seeds germinate a year or more after planting. If they haven't rotted and they aren't in the way, I would keep them around. It may be that various cycles of cooling/heating, drying/wetting provide that mysterious trigger for germination.

Lagniappe

We had a good rain three nights ago and five more 1.5 year old seeds have sprouted . They could be E.superbum ,ventricosum ,or Glaucum . They may be Daj giant as well. Perhaps I'll get a few of each.

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Bananaman88

Still nothing from mine, Pete. I'm beginning to wonder if they are viable. I bought them from someone off of E-bay if I'm remembering correctly. I really like that striped sikkimensis so I thought I'd try some seeds. I think it was called Red Tiger, they may not even come true to type but I thought I'd give them a shot. I'd just be happy to see them germinate at this point regardless of whether or not they are striped!

Lagniappe

I JUST walked in from looking in a tray of red tiger seeds that luvcrochet sent me to post that I found found a seedling !!! That's crazy .
I only had a few to germinate last year and had givin up on them completely(actually forgot about the tray)

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rick z

I don't know about giving up without actually diggin up the seeds to see how they look. I understand that if they have germinated you could easily end up killing them off. However, unless they have germinated in the last week, they would be above ground by now, so that is unlikely. If they still look about like they did when you planted them, I would "stay the course" at least 'til the end of this growing season.

I have not had much success with germination of M. sikkimensis either. I started with about 50 that I bought on ebay and planted them in groups of five into individual pots. In each group of five, one seed was unaltered, one was scarified manually with sand paperor a file, one was scarified in sulfuric acid, one was soaked for a week in ethylene water(from ripening apple wedges), and one was soaked for a week in gibberelin water. A new group of five was started every three weeks since November. All of the pots have been kept moist and made to undergo a temperature swing from about 65° at night to about 85° during the day.

Until last week, all of this had produced nothing! Finally, last week, one sprouted. It is a seed from the third group planted, that had been soaked in gibbererlin water. I don't think on this sample of one success that I can offer any advice as to what to try, except, try several things AND be patient.

Good luck.

natedogg1026

I pretty much gave up on mine. I took em off the heat mat and put em out doors to let mother nature take care of them. Low and behold I looked down at them yesterday(they are kinda tucked away) and there was 1/2" of a Superbum stickin out. Yeaaaaaa.

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Bananaman88

I'll definitely be keeping them for a while longer. They aren't in the way, so there's no use in pitching them. One of my issues is that I only have 5 seeds, so my chance of getting anything is relatively low, say as compared to you Rick, since you planted 50 seeds. I'll keep everyone posted. In fact, you'll probably hear my excited yell if I do eventually get germination!

mskitty38583

congrats nate!!!!!!!!!:simp atica

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Lagniappe

I've had 30 seeds to germinate ! Most were thrown out last year but it occurred to me that some could be from the year before .

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mskitty38583

congrat on the germination.

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