Almost a forest

I haven't been disappointed - in the last week another two Baobabs have germinated, and one pot in particular is looking rather densely canopied!

One seedling has arrived in one of the pots marked '3' in the propagator, and I found the seed case actually lying on top of the soil next to it. When the seeds sprout it seems that they put down a root, and then push up the stalk with the cotyledon leaves and the seed case still around them, which is shed as they unfurl.

Most of the action however is still in the pot marked '2' that the first seedling germinated in. Four out of the five seeds I planted in the pot have now germinated, and the big cotyledon leaves are making it look quite crowded. In a couple of the seedlings you can just see the first pair of 'true' leaves, which is quite exciting. They are quite hard to photograph at such close range, so I've done a sketch to try and give a clearer picture of what's going on.

I think the next task will be to separate out the seedlings in this pot. As dryland trees I would imagine their roots will go down, rather than out, to search out the deep water reserves that they would survive from in the desert plains of Africa. So whilst I'm not too worried about their roots becoming tightly tangled together at this stage, I am interested to see how deep they are relative to the height of the seedline, and to make sure they have enough room to keep going!

More shoots, and leaves too!

It's been about another week, and there are three more shoots, and the first one has leaves now. The new shoots are both Baobabs as far as I can tell, and two are in the same pot as the first shoot, but surprise surprise, the other one has germinated outside of the propagator.

When I planted the seeds I ended up with ten pots in all, only eight of which would fit in the propagator, so I left two just out on the windowsill to see how they'd get on. This new shoot is also from the batch that was soaked for the longest; that is about 24 hours. So I wasn't necessarily expecting one of them to have germinated so soon, if at all - especially seen as the building certainly isn't over heated. Perhaps the heat from the sun in the past week has been enough to keep the soil temperature suitably high.

It's also really interesting seeing the first leaves of the Baobab shoot, which are called cotyledons. The cotyledons are not 'true' leaves, but are formed from part of the seed of the plant. This means that they often look quite different from the leaves that develop afterwards, and can cause havoc in pots and gardens when it comes to identifying intended seedlings and weed seedlings, and knowing which to remove! The Baobab shoot has two of these 'leaves', each about the sixe of a two pence piece, which means they are called dicotyledenous.

Still no news on the Neem seeds then, but really good progress with the Boababs; good to be seeing leaves, and watching how they're developing. It is certainly a learning curve, a return to basic biology, and after the last two weeks I'm expecting big things over the next one!

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!

The seeds are in the building

The seeds have arrived! I have a bag of Neem (Azadirachta indica) seeds , and a bag of the Baobab (Adansonia digitata) seeds I was hoping for. There are plenty of both to give them a good chance of germinating and growing on. The Baobab seeds look a little bit like beans, and the Neem seeds look very woody, so it's no suprise they're going to need a bit of soaking.

Michael Arbonnier's book on the Trees, shrubs and lianas of West African dry zones says that both trees grow on any type of soil. Given that 'dry' is the main characteristic though, I've bought compost (no mean feat in city centre Bristol) and will be adding grit or sharp sand to create a more free draining mix.

So next week I will finally be planting the seeds, and I'm looking forward to it - it feels like a long time since the idea was sown. Let's hope no-one makes a mistake and tries eating them in the mean time!

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!