Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

I have tried to add that to my signature. Could you email or pm me on how you did that. I want to add it to my posts...
Thanks young man,
Randy
BTW, my 6 year old daughter and I went over to the Greenway this evening a spread several hundred Sabal minor seeds down by the creek. Hopefully some will germinate and I will have some growing and naturalizing in several years... (Randy Palmseed) instead of Johnny Appleseed

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Sweet, will PM ya.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Taylor you are truly lucky. I have just thawed out from a week and a half deep freeze where the temperature got as low as -19*F. It is -5*F right now and is forecast to reach a wonderfully warm 18*F this afternoon.:0513:

I checked the seeds again this AM and nothing yet after 30 days.

Allen

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Just reading this thread on experiments re veluntia seeds...I wonder if anyone has read about how the fruit (the pulpy stuff) of many plants often contain a chemical that act as a stimulator for germination. Makes me wonder what would happen if one kept the soil moist with a tea made from the banana fruit or banana peel?
Has anyone tried this? What were the results?

Last year I had 20 veluntia seeds in the greenhouse with temp fluctuating (60 & 85) and the few plants I got were planted in soil with a layer of banana pulp just below / around the seed.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

I tried using banana pulp as a 'non-sterile media' last year. The experiment was unsuccessful most likely because of heat damage to the seeds. I did seal the container to retain moisture and found that the banana pulp fermented.

I have some seed coming out of cool wet stratification Jan 5th and may try adding banana pulp to the non-sterile media.

Allen

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

More frequently, the fruit on some plants can also act as an inhibitor to germination rather than a promoter. I haven't tried any experiments involving banana pulp though, nor have I read any scientific research on it. It would be neat to see a study on that.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

I haven't planted yet either. Mine are getting natural Northern California cold stratification. I always called it overwintering with veggie seeds...s'posed to make 'em stronger.:coldbanana:

I'll plant them all around Janurary 1st (depending on what the Almanac says) with all my veggie seeds for next year's gardens. I aim to plant out in the middle of March.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Originally Posted by dpren3275
"I wonder if anyone has read about how the fruit (the pulpy stuff) of many plants often contain a chemical that act as a stimulator for germination."

Banana fruits produce a lot of ethylene gas (which is why people put a banana in a bag of other fruits to speed their ripening), and ethylene is known to stimulate germination in some types of seeds.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Glad to see you posting, "Susie". I hope in the near future you can introduce yourself on this thread and get into some detail about what you are working on. Again, good to see you aboard!!!

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

OK I am happy to officially announce the sprouting of the seeds... I have 1 nice sprout that is about 2 inches tall now and several more that have "popped their caps" and are pushing their first signs of life!...

Unfortunately no pics for now as my phone line was ripped off of the house in the ice storm, and thus my DSL is out of service until tomorrow or wednesday.

Thank you Randy! you have got me addicted to germinating seeds and I have placed a couple of orders in different places for some sikki 'red flash', cheesmanii and some Trachycarpus Takil

-James-

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Congrats!!!! BTW, don't blame me for any of your addictions!!! LOL I have my own to have to deal with, without feeling guilty for causing someone else to stumble... Hey, at least it is a non threatening addiction!!!! Keep us posted....

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

I don't blame you at all.... In fact, I appreciate it :D 'cause now I have found a cheaper way to obtain my tropical collection... yeah I may have to wait a bit longer to see any results but it is definately well worth the wait....

PM inbound to ya Randy.

-James-

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

The seeds have sprouted. I soaked them for a few hours then planted in potting soil in a 'Glad' re-usable container with the lid on. These stayed outside until the night temp started going below 50F. I them brought them in and they sat on the kitchen counter until a couple weeks ago when I started putting them on a heating pad at night.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

I am glad to see that others are having success. :bebe:

I was about 30 days behind everyone in getting my seeds due to not paying enough attention to the forum and Canada Post.

I am hoping that mine will start sprouting at Xmas.:2200:

Allen

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

OK. iam trying the seeds again. The 1st ones planted,the peat pellets dried up when i wasnt looking! I started soaking 5 seeds in water on Dec16th. Gonna let them soak 5days. Then.....will put 2 seeds in peat pots in a baggie.The other 2 will go in a small pot inside another ziplock baggie. The medium i mixed is part miracle grow,playsand,vermiculite,peat,and a lil' milorganite. I mixed all that up real good. The last seed will go into a baggie with just the soil mixture. These will be in my bathroom{cuz its hot as blue blazes in there}All day they'll be in there, and before going to bed, i'll take them out ,and put them near a cool window till the morning. Hope this does it, because i want to post pictures and be proud of my triumph too!
I have 5 seeds in dirt in my unheated greenhouse to overwinter. I'll start watering them in apr or may, when the weather starts heating up. As another experiment....I'll put 3 seeds in the fridge tonight. I dont' know how long they should be in there. Guess I'll be reading all day today and tomorrow trying to find the answer,.......Unless somebody out there knows. Good luck to me. Magicgreen:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Oh yea.......I didnt get rid of the seeds in those dried up pellets, they still may grow from what i read.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Thanks for the update, Magicgreen. Please be sure to keep us posted as to your experiences with them... Best of luck to you...

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

keeping my fingers crossed, mg.:twonanners:

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Thank you so much Randy!!!
Thanks to you I have at least 1 tiny banana plant. I checked last night expecting to see the same lifless dirt I have been looking at for the last 6 weeks and to my surprise there it was, a tiny sprig of green.:bebe:

Sorry it took so long to post but I have been very busy and just haven't had time to post alot on the forums, and until this point I have had no results.

Here are the details on the germination setup.
The Germinator: Old cracked 20 gallon aquarium with a thermostaticaly controlled heat mat in it and a florescent lighted aquarium cover. The thermostat is plugged into a timer for control of the heating time.

For this batch I chose 12 seeds from the ones that you sent me.
Germination Medium: Ferry Morris Seed starting mix. Nuked it for 2 Mins cause it had mold on it when I opened the bag. BTW 2 minutes isn't enough, mold reappeared after a couple of weeks but not on the seeds!

Pregermination Method: Seeds soaked for two days, no water change

Germination Method: Using the ziploc container method and a germinator
I put the germinator into a day night cycle of 12 Hours of High Temp (90 - 95 deg) then 12 Hours of Low Temp (50 to 60 deg).

Date: Status:
11/1/2007 Placed 12 seed in a Ziploc container in medium.
11/7/2007 No changes yet, still tweeking the germinators temp
12/18/2007 First Sprout!!! :2704: :2704: :2704: :2704:

Days To First Germination: 48 Days

:woohoonaner:

I just hope I can keep it alive until summer!

Hey I noticed in your earlier post that we both started our seeds on the same day November 1. I guess you won the race! LOL

Thanks again for your generosity.

I will post more as results come in.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Thanks for the update, 7abZoner. You are more than welcome for the seeds. Please be sure to keep us updated to your experiences. I only tried 5 seeds and 3 are up and growing. Two of the three have one fully unfurled leaf and the other is getting ready to start. Like I said, as you have time, keep us informed....

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Congratulation:pepper2nana: 7abzoner. Magicgreen

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Well it must be a lucky week. I have mine ,soaked for differing lenghs of time. One batch was about 2 days and one ended up being soaked for closer to 4 days. All the seeds were planted in a seed starter/coconut husk mix in plug trays. Si far no above ground activity ,however, there are several new roots coming through the underside of the plug tray heading towards the water in the tray. If the progress continues, I should be seeing above ground growth by next week.The roots dropping down by the way, are very thick and solid. Sounds all good to me.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

DSL is finally back up so here is a pic as promised.... and more to come later on.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Is this one of my "babies"!!!! Congrats, James!!! How many do you have thus far? Keep us posted to its / their progress...

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

I have 2 more just barely pokin their heads out of the soil and 6 others that are putting out some roots as we speak.... I lost a lot due to a overzealous German Sheperd pup... but I messed up when I tried to do a lot just in soil in cups w/ bags over them... because I had no way to tell what was doing what. I didn't ever receive my gel packs in the mail that I ordered, so I just went with the paper towel in a baggie method and so far that is all that has worked for me, I just waited until the germination caps popped off and then planted them and so far that has worked wonders.

I still have a quite a few in soil in a plastic bag that I suspect will be popping up in a few weeks with the proper care.

The one in the pic is by far my largest... just a couple o' days ago it was just a green worm lookin thing stickin out of the soil and wah-la it now has its first leaf.... truly amazing how fast the little bugger grows.

-James-

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

WOW!.... that is all I have got to say... I have more velutinas than I know what to do with... I guess when spring rolls around I will have plenty to give to the community garden. :D

I checked the plastic bag full o' soil and there are probably another 20 or so germinated and I am sure in the next couple of days there will be plenty more.

I went from 8-10 germinated to over 30 almost overnight. I really had low expectations for growing banana plants from seed because all I have ever heard is "bananas are hard to grow from seed"... that, in my experience is not the case... you just have to have patience.

I am going to try several more varieties but I am going to wait until my new set up gets here in a couple of weeks... check it out

I will post more pics (if and when I remember).

-James-

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Hey
we ignored seeds for couple weeks and see what happens






so we have 90 of 135 up so far

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Unreal!!!!! What great germination percentage! Good for you!!!!To what do you attribute your success?

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

partly to good supplier, and advice from members

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Looks GREAT, Dan and Tara!!! Looks like you should have plenty come spring... Please, do not give any credit to the supplier, as he just cleaned and shipped the seeds to you. You folks did all the work and should get all the credit... Keep me posted as to their progress...
Randy

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

well you provided FRESH seeds, had to be a big help in this adventure
so THANK YOU for your generosity

Keep that "fresh seed" thing in mind...
 

Unfortunately when you buy mail-order banana seeds they are very difficult to get to germinate. If they are not dried enough then they don't store very long (which is necessary for a seed supplier who is storing and shipping seeds). If they are dried properly (which ensures that they are viable for a long time) then it is very difficult to get them to re-hydrate enough to germinate (and often there is a narrow window between hydrated enough and rotting). So, the ideal way to store seeds is to clean fresh seeds and store them in moist peat (as you would if you were trying to germinate them). So, if you get fresh seeds you will be in business. But if you order mail-order don't expect great results. I had great luck with the velutina that I got from Randy last year and with some seeds that I collected off of an unknown variety. My rarepalmseeds Musa seeds did very poorly and sadly out of the hundreds that I tried I killed the one sikkimensis 'Red Tiger', the one itinerans, and the one Helen's Hybrid that I got to germinate.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Just wondering if anyone here has any updates on their seeds... Haven't seen or heard from anyone in quite awhile... Sure hope some of you have had success and just not reported back, yet...

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Randy, i bought a heat mat yesterday! Still watching and hoping!
Magicgreen

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

I have your seeds and also some from Tropicallvr. The Almanac says the 16th is a good time to plant...I start hydration on that day. :2623:

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Still nothing.

Allen

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

I am also awaiting..... nothing really yet. I thought I had a root starting...but maybe not. So.. we wait

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

mine are all working on their third leaves..... sorry for not reporting more but as you are well aware I am staying busy with other seed germination

Sabal Minor, Trachy wag x fortunei, Musa itnerans, Musa helen's hybrid, Musa sikki 'red flash', Musa sikkimensis, Musa cheesmanii, Washingtonia filifera and robusta, Ricinus communis, some sort of canna that is red and gets freakishly huge... and I am waiting on my T. takil seeds from india and my Cyrostachys renda seeds

I will post pics later... I moved them all from styrofoam cups to peat pots in a tray. (I had 30, I think, and I broke a couple so I am down to 27 or 28 now)

Remind me about the pics cause I tend to forget.

Merry January the 15th to all!!!!

-James-

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Randy,

I'm still waiting. They haven't done anything, yet. I guess I need to try a different method. Maybe, I can use potting soil instead of perlite or vermiculite.

Have you had any luck with your Arenga engleri? I had some with mold that I cleaned and some others I threw out.

Whew, I still have alot of different seed I need to get started too.

Dean

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Dean, I too, have so many different types of seeds going right now, that I can't keep up with them. I will do my best to take a look and give you a report on the Arengas when I get home this evening... Sorry to hear you have yet to have any luck with the velutina. If you have any left, try the potting mix in a 4" pot with plastic over the top and on a heat mat if you have one. Make sure you presoak seeds before, and you should have some success. Keep me posted...
Randy

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Still no sign of life on my seeds( Velutina)--I swear my seeds have gone on vacation or fell asleep. Maybe come spring, they will wake up--I am a patient person though, so I am still waiting.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Tony,
Hate to tell you this, but a good friend of mine that I gave a bunch of seeds to last year had given up on his when about one year later, they all seemed to come up at once... Hopefully this will not be the case for you... Thanks for the update and keep me posted...

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Dean,
As soon as I got home, I went straight to my seeds and checked on yours. Sorry to report, nothing yet... I have read that these seeds germinate erratically in one to six months, so I will not be giving up on them. I checked them and they looked good, just not quite ready to go, I guess. Let me know if you have any special insights on them. I currently have them in a baggie on a heat mat....

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

the trays we let get a freeze out in the garage are the only ones to have sprouts, the ones that have been in room temp have not sprouted any

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

I am still waiting for life to appear in my trays. I did gently dug around a few and they still look the same as the day I planted. Everyone's success if giving me hope.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Randy4ut, I have your Musa Velutina soaking right now. They are being accompanied by Musa Balbisiana 'Gigantea' and Musa Sikkimensis X Paradisica from Tropicallvr.

They are unscarified, but mildly 'overwintered' (no lower than 35-40 degrees with 60-65 degree high) with temperature fluctuations day to night. I soaked in warm water (95 degrees) and will leave til tomorrow afternoon. I'll plant in Kellog's patio plus with added perlite, in standard garden center 6 packs. These will be placed in a 55 gallon aquarium with heat pad glued to the bottom, timed to 18 on and 6 off. I'll use a 175 watt HPS for light and supplemental heat.

This is my first attempt to grow banana from seed and also a first to adhere to the The Old Farmer's Almanac for ques on planting. Gonna grow me some 'maters and peppers too...

:2181: :2126: :pinwheelnaner:


Fingers crossed...:drum:

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Microfarmer,
Thanks for sharing the procedure guidelines you are using. Great to see the detail... Keep us posted to your/their progress...

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Randy got my T. Takil seeds yesterday from india... got 'em soaking right now... I will let ya know what happens.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Randy, here is an updated m. velutina pic. This seed sprouted in March 07 and suffered a bit outside in a pot during the summer. It has since recovered and is opening a new leaf every 1.5-2 weeks indoors. I'm ready to put it outside, and it's ready to get out of this pot!

P.S. The leaves are darker green than they appear because a grow light is shining on it from the wall.

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Austin,
Thanks for the update... Always good to see that someone has had some luck germinating the seeds. Get that baby in the ground this spring and water it like crazy and I'm sure it will bloom for you later in the summer/fall. Keep me updated....

Re: OK>>>> Seeds are ready on the velutina!!!
 

Randy,
I am soaking some more of your seeds. These have been chilled in the fridge for about a month. I haven't given up on the others yet but, no more sprouts other than the one reported earlier.