Got my first seed, Need info about them

I have just gotten some seeds for white Datura. Have not seem them, slthough I probably have and just didn't know. Are they a bush, stemmed flower, sun or shade, etc. When do I plant seeds. It's warm here until Nov. It will be 88 today, but may be 40 tomorrow

Datura are bushes. They can take full sun as long as they have plenty of water. It's too late to start them start them now. I'm in the same zone as you are and start mine in the greenhouse the first week in January. I start them in good draining potting soil about 1/4 inch deep. Datura seeds can germinate in a week or take months so be patient.

The picture is what the seedlings look like.

X

Should a light be kept on the seeds while waiting for them to sprout?

yes it should...

Thanks...

Actually they don't need light to germinate.

X

Thanks for all the info. I'm glad I asked if it was a bush. I would have probably planted them all over a bed and would really have been surprised when they came up!!!

I start mine in a southeast facing kitchen window. Works like a champ.

Anne

Good, I really need some evergreens so my beds don't look so bare in fall and winter. Would you plant them together, you know 3 or 4 together, or separate them.

I separate them but that's me.

Loraine,

I don't know which white Datura seeds you got, but there is a white Datura that is kind of wild and lanky. I think it is the "native" one and it tends to seed freely and survive the Winters even here (zone7b). I do not think it's growth is attractive (to me).

Just my opinion, but I am not too fond of this variety. Too sprawly.
I have grown two kinds for a couple of years now and I have oodles of seeds from this Summer. One is a double Yellow and the other is a double purple/white metel--very similar to the "Black Currant Swirl". I still don't know the exact difference.......

I have also learned the seed germination takes patience. And also that Daturas, once planted up in (say) 4" pots, like to grow to about 4"-5" and get well established before you plant them in a bed. Then just lift them out and plant them gently where they will grow. They just don't like all the disturbing of their roots too much.
Once in a bed--just watch then take off!!!!! You won't believe it! They grow on strong stems and pretty upright--branching freely. I would allow about 5' per datura plant.

If you have started them early. like "X" suggested, you will have plenty of seed pods that will mature on the plants. If you wait to grow them from seed only when the weather gets warm, the plants may not have enough time to go through the seed maturation process. The pods have to be "ripe"--read that as splitting open--before you can pick them. Then remove all the seeds and dry them on a paper plate on top of your fridge.
If some of the seeds fall into your bed, they will come up (most likely) on their own. I read somewhere (maybe on DG) that Datura seeds can stay in the ground for YEARS and then still germinate if they are near the surface.
***And please remember--ALL parts of the Datura are toxic if ingested, so wash your hands well after you have messed with the seeds--or the plant--or the leaves, etc. Same goes for all Morning Glories, Moon Vine, and all Brugmansias. They are all, kind of, in the same family of plants. "Nightshade" group--I believe.....
Isn't the Tomato also a distant "relative"????

Hope this helps you somewhat. Of course, all that I am telling you here applies to my zone. TX may be all different. So--take that into account. Let others from YOUR zone give you specific advice.

Gita.

Can anyone tell me which daturas will survive outside in my zone, I have seen some as I pass by different neighborhoods. and what is the difference between these and Brugmansias are they not sort of cousins ?

What is your zone? It might survive in 8b, I know that my brugs do. You'd just have to mulch like crazy.

Anne

Both Brugmansia & Datura are in the same family of Solanaceae.

Brugmansia grow into trees, produce brown wood and are perennial in warmer climates. 99% of their flowers point down and are usually called Angels Trumpet. They produce green bean like seed pods.

Datura are annual bushes (except in climates with no frost) and do not produce brown wood. Their stems and trunks are almost always green but a few have black stems. Their flowers point up and are mistakenly called Angels Trumpet but are acutally Devils Trumpet. They produce round, spikey or bumpy seed pods that can literally explode when ripe throwing seeds all over the place if the pod is not well hydrated.

All parts of both are toxic, especially to children and pets. The roots, stems, flowers, leaves and seeds contain the chemicals atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine in varying concentrations.

X

What is really interesting is that bud from each look exactly alike!

X

I guess it would help if I said where I was (duh) I'm in 7 zone, I live between asheville and charlote I'm in a kind of a weird place I'm not in the foothills but also not in the peidmont.

Xeramtheum Thanks for the info I have both kinds, I could see a big difference in them but had no idea which was which! I bought them from the Flea Market in Chesnee SC really cheap, $2.50 each made me very happy, but he was calling them some very strange names and I knew enough to know they were Brugs or Daturas

When I bought mine at the nursery they said Datura metel - is hardier - I got Datura metel w/ purple petticoats

Gitagal:
re: Tomatoes - member of Nightshade family
Yes, they are a distant cousin, and were considered not fit to eat.

Alexander W. Livingston (whose mother told him NOT to eat them, said - "Tomatoes are poisonous, for even the hogs will not eat them") became a famous horticulturalist, bred improved strains of seeds and introduced a tomato called Paragon. "It was," he wrote, "the first perfectly and uniformly smooth tomato ever introduced to the American public."

Livingstone is considered the pioneer of modern Amerian tomato growing, and his Paragon started breeders and growers on a quest, now into it's second century, for the truly perfect tomato.

I got the above info from a Time-Life book on gardening :-)

-Susan-

first time taking seeds and as you see we live in the south of england have had no success on cutting daturas down and over wintering have lost all for the last 2years so have reverted to seed collecting have 4 really beatifull pink 2 varities might winter in doors this year not sure what to do any advice would be really helpfull hoping if lose mine i will have some success with seeds did try taking root cutting put in water as read it just went soggy help fenton 13.

Lorraine--

Here is a picture of my double (triple?) purple and white Datura from this Summer.
Note it's size! This is ONE plant--from ONE seed.

Sometimes these need some staking or other support...

Here is what the seed "apples" look like.
These have split and have been removed. Each "pod" gas close to 100 seeds in it.

This time of year--check regularly to see if any of the "pods" have split.
As soon as you see a split--CUT the pod off! Do not try to pull it off by hand!
The outer covering is soft--like pith--and the whole thing will come apart in your hand....

Then--run and wash your hands!!!!

Gita

Daturas Do Not grow by cuttings. They grow by seed only. Yes, wash your hands anytime you touch the seeds, pods, flowers or leaves!! Any part of the plant. You Do Not want to touch your eyes, or any sensitive part of your body after touching the plant......

Correction: Daturas are perennials grown as annuals in the North. They can be wintered over in a dormant or semi dormant stage potted and left in an above freezing spot. The white blooming Datura (Datura inoxia) is nicknamed Moonflower.

Datura seeds do not need light while sprouting since they are planted in the soil and covered. They need light once they have sprouted which can be from 10 days, to a month.


Daturas do not come true from seeds if more than one variety is grown at the same time. They cross hybridize. If pure seeds are wanted from a particular variety, grow only that variety.



This message was edited Nov 21, 2010 11:33 PM

Here is Datura inoxia x Datura metel (yellow ballerina, Datura metel) I grew both a few year ago, collected the seeds and here is what I got. Actually, it became my favorite since some blooms tend to be double, others are not, on the same plant.

Daturas will self-seed and do better if not planted. Yes, they will sprout if planted, but just leaving them alone and waiting for the heat of the sun, rain and light will get them growing more vigorously. They are definitely Perennials, and I grow them as annuals in the North.
Here is my yellow Ballerina Metel