Seeds' day out!

After a busy two weeks the seeds and seedlings had the bank holiday weekend out and about at the Sculptree festival at Westonbirt Arboretum.


18 of the latest batch of Baobab seeds had germinated, so I separated each one out into its own pot. The Baobab and Neems seeds had come in bags of quite large quantities, even for the biggest of windowsills, so I packaged up small bags of the seeds so that visitors could have a go at growing tree seeds too!

Despite the weather there were plenty of interested visitors, and it seems like there will be plenty of seedlings too soon as all of the seeds sold! If you bought some Baobab or Neem seedlings let us know how you get on. This blog has been all about experimenting with what works, and finding out what doesn't, so I'll be really interested to read any comments or find out any tricks and tips for success.

Where are the Shea seedlings?

It's been a couple of weeks now since the sprouted Shea seeds were potted up, and there's no sign of life as yet. It's difficult to tell sometimes if seeds are just taking a while to sprout or whether they've rotted off. It's even more difficult given that I'm still in the territory of the fairly unknown in terms of compost and water requirements with these exotic seeds. So the waiting game continues with the Shea for now.

In the meantime I've planted up some of the Dawadawa and Tamarind seeds that arrived from Africa with Philip. They were given about six hours to soak this time, as the germination of the last sets of seeds seemed to be most successful after 5 hours in hot water. When I opened the flask and poured out the seeds the Tamarind seeds had gone really slimy! They had quite a bit of stringly, clear slime with reddish bits in around some of the seeds. Now if they'd been in to soak for 24 hours or more it would be more understandable as the seeds would risk rotting and breaking down, but is that what's happened after just 6 hours? I guess the only way to find out its to plant them anyway and see what happens, which is exactly what I did. I've planted about 10 of each in total, so hopefully we'll see some shoots soon.

I also planted up a whole lot more Baobabs, hoping tp get plenty germinated to take to Sculptree, the festival of the tree held at Westonbirt Arboretum from the 23rd to 30th of August this year. The germination rate from the last batch was about 1/3, so I've planted 40 seeds and will see how they go in the run up to the festival.

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.

Seeds in soil

This afternoon I have been planting tree seeds! As I mentioned, the seeds are very hard and woody, so their dormancy had to be broken. This can be done by soaking in hot water, nicking the seed coating, or using acid (to mimic a passage through an animal's intestinal tract). With acid seeming a bit much, and the ready availability of a kettle on hand, I went for the soaking option. I've soaked three batches of the seeds for three different lengths of time; one that I put to soak yesterday, one this morning, and one just before sowing, so about 24 hours, 5 hours, and 15 minutes. I marked each batch, and I've marked up each pot, so I'll be able to see which are more successful.

I commandeered the kitchen floor, put a layer of old paper down, and got on with the business of sowing seeds. First things first was to mix my soil and sharp sand to make sure that the seeds are in a soil that drains well. I decided to use small pots, rather than a seeds tray, as these are dryland plants and so might need more space for roots to grow down, rather than across. I've put 5 seeds in per pot, covered them over, and given them a soak. I've also borrowed a propagator, so they are now settled in that on one of our sunny windowsills, and hopefully will get enough warmth with the wonderful rise in temperatures we've seen in the past couple of weeks.

I'm feeling a little bit apprehensive now, mixed with excitement. I really hope to get at least a few of each, Baobab and Neem, germinated, and will be so disappointed if nothing happens! I've sown thirty seeds in total, fifteen of each, so it's fingers crossed for the next few weeks!

Perparing for seeds from Africa

It's about a week now until Tony Hill, our Programmes Director, gets back from his visit to our offices in Burkina Faso, and I'm beginning to get quite excited! Hopefully he will be bringing with him (after checking the biological customs restrictions with the very friendly government agency fera at http://www.blogger.com/www.fera.defra.gov.uk ) tree seeds from some of the species we work with in Africa.

It is all going to be a bit of surprise as to which species I get, so I'm expecting to have to do some cramming on the trees and their conditions in the wild, just so that I can make them as happy as I can in their pots. I'm hoping Tony will have found me some Mango (Mangifera indica), and Baobab (Adansonia digitata), mostly because they're the most familiar and iconic for me, and also useful, amongst the trees of West Africa.

For now though I'm asking around gardening colleagues and friends for trays and pots to reuse, and considering compost sourcing. Because the seeds are non native I'm expecting quite a high failure rate in germination and before the seedlings get a bit more established, so I'll be sowing lots to start with in the hope that I can nurture some of them beyond and into happy plants. Speaking of which, I must make sure everyone is happy with me staking a claim to their windowsills!