Posted by Sacha on January 5, 2012, 5:12 am
For those who have had difficulty in getting this to germinate, this
may be of interest, though I think I told urg about it several years
ago. Ray has just come into the house nd is very pleased because all
the seed he planted seems to be coming up. He didn't follow the method
of keeping it at -5C for a while, but he used his smoking method. He
gathered up a load of pine needles and set fire to them and when they
were smoking nicely, he held the seed over the smoke for a while.
Obviously, they thought they'd been through a forest fire and bingo! As
this is a notoriously difficult plant to propagate, we hope this may be
of help to those trying to get it going. Conversey, it's said to be
invasive in some places!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Posted by Janet Tweedy on January 5, 2012, 7:14 am
writes
>He didn't follow the method of keeping it at -5C for a while, but he
>used his smoking method. He gathered up a load of pine needles and set
>fire to them and when they were smoking nicely, he held the seed over
>the smoke for a while. Obviously, they thought they'd been through a
>forest fire and bingo!
When i left my Callistemon branches on the mantelpiece above our solid
fuel burner, I didn't have to wait long to find millions of seed (like
dust) had come out of the seed pods!!
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk
Posted by Sacha on January 5, 2012, 7:51 am
>> He didn't follow the method of keeping it at -5C for a while, but he
>> used his smoking method. He gathered up a load of pine needles and set
>> fire to them and when they were smoking nicely, he held the seed over
>> the smoke for a while. Obviously, they thought they'd been through a
>> forest fire and bingo!
>
>
> When i left my Callistemon branches on the mantelpiece above our solid
> fuel burner, I didn't have to wait long to find millions of seed (like
> dust) had come out of the seed pods!!
Useful tip, thanks, Janet!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Posted by Farm1 on January 5, 2012, 9:34 pm
> For those who have had difficulty in getting this to germinate, this may
> be of interest, though I think I told urg about it several years ago. Ray
> has just come into the house nd is very pleased because all the seed he
> planted seems to be coming up. He didn't follow the method of keeping it
> at -5C for a while, but he used his smoking method. He gathered up a load
> of pine needles and set fire to them and when they were smoking nicely, he
> held the seed over the smoke for a while.
Smoke water, such as that which comes out of a hookah and then used to water
the seeds should also work or even soaking the seeds in it for a time. It
works on lots of Australian native plants.
Posted by Chris Hogg on January 6, 2012, 3:51 am
On Fri, 6 Jan 2012 13:34:37 +1100, "Farm1"
>> For those who have had difficulty in getting this to germinate, this may
>> be of interest, though I think I told urg about it several years ago. Ray
>> has just come into the house nd is very pleased because all the seed he
>> planted seems to be coming up. He didn't follow the method of keeping it
>> at -5C for a while, but he used his smoking method. He gathered up a load
>> of pine needles and set fire to them and when they were smoking nicely, he
>> held the seed over the smoke for a while.
>Smoke water, such as that which comes out of a hookah and then used to water
>the seeds should also work or even soaking the seeds in it for a time. It
>works on lots of Australian native plants.
Also many South African species such as ericaceae and proteaceae.
Googling for smoke germination brings up load of examples.
--
Chris
Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales
XML site map
>used his smoking method. He gathered up a load of pine needles and set
>fire to them and when they were smoking nicely, he held the seed over
>the smoke for a while. Obviously, they thought they'd been through a
>forest fire and bingo!