Stuff I'm trying to start from seeds and cuttings

Here's a pic of some stuff I'm trying to start from seeds or cuttings.

I'm not the world's greatest propagator because I'm too lazy I guess. As long as I can get a few seedlings up to sapling size, I'm happy.

Anyway, here are a few things I'm growing:

Pelophorum dasyrachis
Caesalpinia peltophoroides the famous Brazilian tree 'Sibipiruna'
Cassia moschata
Tabebuia roseo-alba
Caesalpinia decapetala
Markhamia zanzibarica
Calliandra falcata
Lonchocarpus sericeus
Cordia sebestena
Erythrina falcata
Deplanchea tetraphylla

I start the seeds in those plastic covered pans you get from baked chicken at the supermarket. I have a big, old aquarium I keep them in with fluorescent lights. After they get to a certain size I pot some up and keep them in the aquarium for a few weeks more until I run out of space. Then I sit them out on the balcony. I have a fair amount of losses because of my lackadaisical way of doing it--but I'm only really interested in having a few of each survive anyway.

Down in the 'incubator' right now I have some Radermachera hainanensis, Erythrina poeppigiana, and Erythrina sandwicensis seedlings and just this past weekend a couple of Petrea aspera and Petrea glandulosa seedlings have come up. I'm really excited about those.

Some of the things I've already put in the ground from past efforts are Peltophorum africanum, Peltophorum pterocarpum, Colvillea racemosa, Delonix regia, Schotia brachypetala, Schotia afra, Bolusanthus speciosus, Delonix adansoniodes (decaryi), Delonix pumila, Xanthostemon chrysanthus, and others. Most of this last group have survived at least one winter in the ground--a couple have been up to four years in the ground.

As you can see, virtually all of these are tropical flowering trees. So far I've been modestly successful in getting them into the ground and then keeping them alive.

The other part of this pasttime is finding and acquiring the seed. Sometimes one gets nonviable seed but that's just part of the effort. It's exciting when you see something first come up.

-Ron-

Wow, Ron, I'm impressed! For a "lazy" guy you do quite well, huh?:)

Do you have any knowledge about strating echiums and eryngiums form seeds? I just got my seeds and they all seem to want to be planted in the fall and Eryngium Maritimum even needs 8 weeks of cold! I'm in hell-hot Florida, so there is no such thing as cold here! Besides, I'm just so impatient, that I'd love to hear someone say that I can just plant them tomorrow! O.K., I already did plant some today, but I have almost no hope to see them come up. Any piece of advice anybody?

Well, I don't know if this is a similar situation or not, but I started some seeds of Lapagerias in the refrigerator. It was damp light potting soil and peat. I kept the seeds on the surface but covered with clear plastic. As each seed started to sprout, I would remove it and plant it.

Echiums I'm not sure about. Here in San Diego, I have them on the hillside (Pride of Madeira) and they sort of self propagate. I have a whole slew of seedlings just below two mother plants. They come up under some ice plant.

-Ron-

I sure do like doing the filter paper method. It is very easy, you can check them easily, they stay damp for about a week or so without renewing the moisture. it is pretty easy after a while to fish out the seedlings and you do not have to rush into to doing it, they will keep quite a while.

I also like using coir instead of peat. It holds moisture better without getting too soggy, holds more moisture and does not have the dryout problem that peat has where it is difficult to get it wet again once it has dried out.

There is a learning curve and you do improve with experience, especially the tiny seeds. You do have to be careful with the roots that get attached to the filter paper and need to be pried off with a toothpick instead of pulling on the leaf and breaking the stem or the root.

The nice thing is you do not end up with half empty trays because they haven't germinated yet. You can see the seeds so you know whether they are any good or have succumbed to the fungi. The bottom line is you can germinate more seeds in a smaller space and end up with more plants using fewer seeds. You can use your propagator space more efficiently since the seed baggies take up very little room and the germinated seeds do not need to stay in the propagator that long.

Thanks, Ron. I'll try planting in the fridge. After all, by "cold" the seedman that sold me the seeds means 35-45 degrees and that's what we get in the fridge, don't we.

I believe you're very lucky to have the "Pride of Madeira" and maybe other thistles growing as weeds all over the place. I have traveled some in my area (i.e. north-west and west-central Florida, south of Alabama, Mississippi and Luisiana) and have never seen them "by the highway". Of course, they are by no means popular garden items, although I find them spectacularly beautiful.

Oh they are gorgeous when they kick in. Sometimes a little too agressive here. I think that they like it somewhat dry and low humidity. They obviously like my heavy, rocky, clay soil.

-Ron-