Stepahanosis seed pods question...

well I posted awhile ago about having a mango lookingfruit on my vine.. inside .. it's been developing for maybe 6 + months or so.. it's still bright green.. and hard.. although it is seeming to be a little bit lighter in weight.. perhaps hollow inside.. below the hard outside... could it be ready to be cut open..for the seeds inside..
has anyone had the pods in the past...and what did they do for you in ripening
Thanks

Gordon, I found this information on another website:

Quote: "I leave my seed pods on the vine most of the year. Then in March I cut them off and put them in a bowl in my kitchen and wait...and wait...and wait...eventuallly they begin to open on their own. Then I remove the cone of seeds and allow them to dry. As soon as the puffs begin to open I separate the seeds from the cone of puffs. I save the seeds and discard the cone puffs. Hope this helps."

WoW>>>> In three weeks I'll cut it off.. maybe it will open on it's own.. and I'll see cone puffs .. that will be another first..
from the sound of it... it's along term procedure.. which is the way it seemed to play out here... Excelent.. I'm on some common path.. and now have some idea of the final steps..
Thanks

Keep us posted! This is so fun - I love nature!!!

I grew one when I lived in LA and it had a couple fruits on it. I let them mature on the vine and when they were getting dry and started to crack I picked them.. I planted some of the seeds and had those baby vines for 2 years and they still hadn't flowered yet lol. I gave them away before I moved so don't know how long they took to flower but they must take a while.

I've started plants from the seeds inside picked pods. They do grow more hollow; I've had picked pods waiting 4 months now to ripen. Sometimes I'd grow impatient and poke my thumb through the thinnest one.

Aloha,

I find it very hard to tell just when the pod is ripe and ready to pick so I put a "knee high" stocking over mine and leave it on the vine. The seed is so very light that it will fly away with the slightest breeze when they suddenly crack open. The fresh seed germinates quickly but it does seem to take two years to flower here in Hawaii.
An unripe pod.

yes... thanks Mom.. it is difficult to await it ripening... after so many months here.. I can't think of anything that takes as long..and I'm in a bit of fear it will become spoiled in the meantime... in my complete unfamilarity with the process in the Madagacar Jasmine ...and my fruit seems to change so little month to month ..it seems to be getting lighter and less dense..deep with in.. although still quite firm on the surface..
I've a fruit that has developed on my vine during one of it's inside years.. it alternates inside and outside on alternate years..as pulling away it's many stems of over30 ' and bringing it inside for the winter surely takes a toll.. so I've been giving it a year undisturbed inside on alternate years... it's close to amazing there was something about to poloniate it ... orthat there was enough disturbance to cause it to fertilize it'sself with n one flower..
I'm drawing somewhat impatient.. andhave set the first of March for the artifical pod opening date
I appreciate hearing some of the airbore quality to the seeds..I'll not ovrlook the tiny / light
.. thinking I was going to encounter some large black / brown hard item....
the fruit seems to be developing a cleft.. and perhaps a soft area... it mightreally be getting time... aside from my desire for it to be so..

here it is growing... it gets it's self across two windows.. although I pin it back to the edges.. to allow sun to the others.. and it enjoys the light from the suplementary 400 watt metal halide near by..

Well.. we'd let it develop another almost 2 weeks since my last post.. and today I harvested the seed pod.. it is sitting on the marble computer desk here.. under the warmth of the quartz task lighting...... maybe a warm water bath... we'll see what happens... I'll photograph the opening.. seed gathering.. for posterity..

Aloha,

You are going to be so surprised when you finally open the pod - don't have the overhead fan on like I did! ^_^

wellI did it... I harvested the pod about three weeks ago.. it didn't change much in the three weeks... still firm and solid fealing... so I cut into it.. it still had about 3/4 " of solid flesh... around the seeds

This message was edited Mar 18, 2010 10:06 AM

inside the seeds were all packed solid

as soon as they were out.. the silk floss on the ends of each seed opened up to form a great air catching parachute like conveyance... it was managable being wet and folded up... if they were dry I'm sure they would readily fly forever...
any one interested in a trade..