Seeds Arrive!

Today my first batch of seeds arrived from Whatcom.  I don't have much to say except that I'm super excited!  I've already started soaking some of them.  The other palms should arrive within the next few weeks.  I also transplanted my largest Moringa stenopetala into larger pots today.  Three of the five look fine but I'm worried about the other two.

Dracaena Flowering

This is the first time I have ever seen a Dracaena flower.  The stalk is very impressive given the limited size and number of leaves on the plant. I never would have expected a long and trailing stalk with clusters of flowers.  It doesn't look like any have opened yet but I'm excited to see what this plant has in store.





Now just for fun, here is the future of the coffee industry - Canadian Coffea arabica beans!!

Seedling Update

Just a quick update on some of the seeds I started this summer.  Some really need to be transplanted so I might have to buy a new grow light to make room.

Chinese Evergreen - bottom-left (looks like a green spike), Clivia - bottom-middle, Ginger - bright green, Coffee - right

Seedling Update

Here's just a quick update of the seedlings:

Adenium arabicum

Coffea arabica

Ginger (front) & Clivia (back)

Seedling & Germination (Adenium 4 Days, Hippeastrum 55 Days, Laburnum 28 Days) Update

I noticed this morning that my Adenium arabicum seeds have already started to sprout. They were planted just under four days ago and I wasn't expecting any to sprout until tomorrow so I'm pretty excited. This morning only one was visible and now three can be seen. I expect most of the seeds to be up within a week but it may take up to 30 days.

Many of the Coffee seeds have finally ripped open and leaves are clearly visible. Towards the back of the tray you can see some young ginger sprouts. None of the Chinese Evergreen have sprouted but several of the Clivia have germinated. They are very difficult to see so I didn't upload a picture (the young sprouts are nearly the same colour as the soil). The coffee and ginger was planted about 6 weeks ago (really slow growth).

The Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) are still growing slow and steady.

There are still only three Laburnum watereri sprouts (two in this pot and one in another). I planted about 20 seeds so I'm a little frustrated. I tried to find the ones that I planted that hadn't sprouted but it was really difficult. Some day this week I'll go through and pick them out, then try soaking them again. The seeds were planted about a month ago.

This pot has a mixture of Quinoa and Moringa stenopetala. I ran out of pots for the Moringa so I just threw them in with the Quinoa. I think these sprouts are the largest of all my Moringa stenopetala. The Quinoa has really started to take off too. It's really slow growing to start but has doubled in size in the last week or so. The Moringa are about 2.5 weeks old and the Quinoa is about a month old.

Seedling Update

Here's a quick update on the other seedlings.

Hippeastrum (48 Days)

Laburnum (no more germination but first true leaves, I may dig up the remained and try soaking again or scaring, 34 Days)

Quinoa (very slow growth at first but then takes off, two Moringa stenopetala sprouts at the right)

Coffee (relatively slow growth, first seed leaves appearing! 34 Days)

Baobab Sprouts! (7 Days)

Here's an update on the seedlings. Yesterday there was only one Adansonia digitata (baobab) barely visible near the surface of the soil. Today it has completely sprouted and unfurled its seed leaves and another one has pushed to the surface. That leaves five more. I hope they all sprout, which is a little unrealistic, but only time will tell.

Coffea Arabica (definitely too wet, they look quite odd)



Hippeastrum (not much change)

Moringa oleifera (growing increasingly rapidly, some of the leaves are mishappened)

Seedling Update

Here's an update on the seeds that I've started. The Moringa have been growing well but not as quickly as I'd expect. I ended up moving everything to another area of the greenhouse because temperatures were too low in their old location. For some reason we've had a really cool and wet summer so far this year. Today is only about 23C and the season average for this time of year is around 27C. It's also been very rainy/cloudy for the last few weeks which is very unusual for this time of year in London. I think this may be the reason for the reduced growth of the Moringa.  It's been about 16 Days since soaking.



The Coffee is growing slowly and no leaves are visible yet. The soil is nowhere near as moist as it looks in the picture. The Hippeastrum are also still growing slowly but steadily. I also decided to take a picture of the Hymenocallis seeds. I placed them on the surface of the mixture with their flat side down (seeds may not have a flat side if their is only one in a pod).

Germination Time

I've gotten permission to germinate a few seeds in the greenhouses. I'm starting some house plants, local trees and vegetables. I soaked/stratified the seeds for a few days in damp paper towel. I added water as needed and checked to make sure their was no mould. They were kept at room temperature but higher temperatures would likely be better. Below you can see them just before they were planted. Several of them have already started to put out roots.

Moringa oleifera (the black is charcoal)

Clivia (Orange)

Chinese Evergreen

Coffea arabica

Kentucky Coffee Tree

Ginger (various species)

Here is the tray that I stratified the seeds in. It was a fruit tray from some grocery store.

Hope you enjoy the sprouting seeds pictures. Over the next few days I'll upload some pictures of the planted seeds.