Hi there,

I am a big fan of Birds of Paradise - I have only recently taken the step to seed those though. I found out that germination is fastest in hot (ca. 25-30 degrees C) and humid. else it takes forever - one seed poppe it head out one day, maybe after 3 months of being there quite dormant.

I also found that germination is not 100% succesful (or maybe was I doing something wrong?). I planted several, those that worked were in appartment, southern window, very bright and quite warm. those placed in other conditions did not really work, or much slower. Once they came out, they proved quite robust and fast growing. :-)

you will need to wait for 4-5 years before flowers appear though... if they appear. too much sun may hinder flowering apparently - we had a plant brought back from Hawaii too, that never flowered when outside, and had its leaves very curled up ; it opened generously when brought inside, and is now giving plenty flowers every year. sae southern (blessed) window.

Good luck!!!!

The palm seed depends on the variety of palm you are planting. Some palms have seed germination inhibitors in their seed coat, which needs to be removed before planting. Then the seed is soaked & planted. Some seeds will root with the baggie method & some you can just plant out. It depends on the palm. Palms can take up to 6 months to germinate, especially when the seeds are old.
PlumeriaÂs can be pre-sprouted in a paper towel. My neighbor has one about 8 ft tall, but most I have seen are about 4 ft.
I plant my pecans in the fall & they germinated in the spring.
I assume your bird of paradise seed is round. I have germinated the Mexican variety in a baggie, but I am unsure about the round seed. If it is not sprouting it may need to be nicked with a needle.

I bought some T&M seeds just for the fun of it, and followed the instructions: Pluck off the orange fluff, put in moist sand, and put in absolute darkness in warmth. I had six out of eight seeds germinate, starting about a month afterwards, and going on to about three months.

Plumeria gets quite large, up to about ten metres (30ft) or so, if I remember correctly, but can be kept smaller in pots. They take at about four years or so to start flowering, from what I've read. They are easy to germinate, though. I just stuffed the seeds upright, half-buried (just the seed part, not including the wing), into the soil, wing-side up, and they germinated in a few weeks. Be very careful, though, the stems of the seedlings are extremely fragile, I've found. A bit of shear pressure on them, and they snap easily.

Pecans, I have no experience with.

Palms, I haven't germinated, but I had some seeds someone gave me, and he said you just put it in some moist soil and wait for a couple of weeks, and they'll germinate.

Good luck!

Bird of Paradise.... a pain to grow from seeds. Like mentioned before, they take too long to flower, if they germinate (I'm know to grow little brooms from a broom stick) but can't get BofP to germinate. Have tried all the knowned methods.
Palms are easier, and depends on what kind, go to the palm Forum and they can tell you better.
Again, go to plumerias forum (they have great pictures). They are very easy to grow and, yes, they get to be very robust and large, not only tall, but in circunference. You can control the growth by keeping them in pots.
No experience with pecan, but if you Google it, you'll have tons of info on it.
Good luck!
Ana :)

Hi, I recently bought my first plumeria plant and plan to add several more. I got a lot of good info off of www.plumeria101.com. Look for the section on "plunging". This would probably be the way to go in your area.

Also try www.rarepalmseeds.com. They have a section on germination. It seems many palm seeds are very slow to germinate, but that the plastic bag method mentioned previously might be the quickest.

Cheers

Well, all of the plumeria have now germinated (they all popped up at once this morning when I checked), but still only one pecan and no BOP. The palms and bananas haven't been planted long enough to expect germination. I will keep this updated if anything else germinates.

Htouyeras:

You mentioned the Bird of Paradise would be fast with lots of heat, I currently have them in a window sill. Would it be beneficial to move them outside where it is REALLY hot and humid?

Any suggestions?

I hope this isn't too old to post....

I have BOP in my greenhouse for about a month and nothing yet. Wondering if I should have bought BOP plants if I want a faster flowering time. But where do you find such plants?

HI HOllywog, did your BOP ever germinate?

Maureen

I got some Bird of Paradise seeds (about 20 in all). After my hubby threw some of them away (he didn't know what they were), I have only had 3 germinate. I had them in a bottom heated tray. It did take quite a while for the 3 that I did get, but when I checked some of the other little pots, the seeds appeared rotten (all squishy). I'm wondering if it was too hot. I now have the others that have not germinated in an unheated tray (with a lid for humidity). Don't know if this will be more successful. My problem now is to get more leaves on the existing 3. They seem to have stopped growing (but are still green, so not dead). I don't know if I should put them outside (where it is HOT) or leave them inside.

Hi, I have had great success with germinating MBOP. I snip the eye of the seed lightly and soak overnight in warm water. I have about 95% germination success this way. Also, I have found that they get root bound very quickly. I planted some in the ground and they took off quickly. The ones that I left in pots have not grown that quickly.