The first green shoot

I arrived a couple of mornings ago, and found a note on my desk, which said 'Don't sit down! Check on your trees!'. So I didn't, and I did. In the days I'd been away since planting the seeds, germination had happened!

I had a look, and one green shoot was just beginning to push through the soil. It was one of the baobabs, in one of the pots marked '2' in the propagator. This means that after five hours of soaking in hot water before planting, this baobab seed has taken about a week and a half to sprout. It also suggests that the sharp sand and compost mix, combined with just a good soaking after sowing and one light watering since then has provided tolerable conditions for germination, for the Baobab seeds at least.

Now I think this is pretty amazing stuff, and it has happened a lot quicker than I expected it to, although those expectations had no basis other than caution. More than anything I'm just relieved that something has happened! Now granted, this is one seed of the 30 I planted, and the Neems are now one point down so to speak, but it's great to see signs of life. It's also great to see that seeds from a climate so different to our own can be nurtured into leaf given some fairly basic right conditions.

Hopefully there will be more Baobabs sprouting over the next week or so, and maybe some Neem seeds too, although we shall have to wait and see to find out if, and how long, they take to germinate. It's exciting stuff though, and to someone who's not an experienced seed grower or gardener really quite amazing to see.