Sunday, November 27, 2011

Seedlings!!! (Jacaranda, Schizolobium, Delonix)

I only planted this batch of seeds a week ago and I already have a bunch of sprouts! I purchased them from a seller in India via ebay. They took about a month to arrive but I'm extremely impressed with the quality of seeds.





First off are the Royal Poinciana (Delonix regia). They started sprouting within 3 days after planting! I put two seeds in each pot (actually reused plastic cups) and by today 9 out of 12 have sprouted. That's a 75% germination rate in just one week. At first I thought they looked a little lanky and needed to be moved closer to the light. After a quick google image search, it turns out this is normal and there's no need to worry.



Second to sprout were the Brazilian Tree Fern (Schizolobium parahybum). I Planted five per 6" (15cm) pot which seemed like a good idea at the time. After seeing the size of the sprouts I'm wondering if that was a good idea. The seedlings are giant! I guess that's to be expected of a plant that's said to have the largest compound leaves in the world.



Finally, yesterday my first Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia) seedling began to sprout.  It's not even out of the soil yet, but I had to take a photo. You can just barely see it in the top right cell. You might have to click for a bigger image. :) I just noticed all three species have compound leaves. Coincidence?

I didn't have any Tomatillo sprouts yet so I decided to dig one up and see what was happening. No signs of germination at all. I looked them up again and found out putting the seeds in a freezer for 24 hours can speed germination. They are currently sitting in the freezer, soil and all until later today. Hopefully most will sprout within another week.

I also haven't seen any sprouts from my Screw Pine seeds. I expect these ones to take longer and figure I'll see the first sprouts within two more weeks or so.

10 comments:

  1. Nice!!! I love LoVe LOVE Jacaranda!!! It's the one tree I protect from the frost when time comes. It grows into this massive fern tree....and purple flowers!!! Personal favorite hands down:)

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  2. You should try Caesalpinia pulcherrima. Kind of a similar effect as Delonix regia but a much more manageable size. It just seems a shame to grow all these huge trees that probably are too big to even bloom in a full size conservatory.

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  3. College Gardener, I know right? Especially as winter is fast approaching.

    Rohrerbot, I originally thought the Jacaranda would be hard to keep small but I've heard encouraging news that it really manageable in a small pot and may even flower.

    Kaveh, Those are really nice. Unfortunately I found out about them after I ordered the seeds. Otherwise that would have been my choice. From what I've read most of the species should be able to bloom eventually even small with proper pruning. The only one I don't ever expect flowers from is the Schizolobium.

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  4. Hi , I just ordered some Schizolobium seeds , did you scarify the seeds at all ?

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    Replies
    1. Peter, I did scarify them lightly before soaking.

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  5. I myself bought Jakaranda seeds three years ago,but they didn't grow,so is there any one could help by telling me the good conditions for growing the seeds?

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    Replies
    1. You could try lightly scoring the seed coats then soaking for 24 hours. They should germinate very quickly in a light/moist soil with some heat. Germination will be slow or non-existent if temperature as too low.

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  6. Is there OK to transfer the little sprout of Jacaranda mimosifolia to bigger pot?

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    Replies
    1. My seedlings had no issues/setbacks after being transplanted so you should be good to go.

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