Acacia seed pretreatment/germination

19 years ago

Sometimes only a small proportion of Acacia seeds 'plump' when I pour boiling water over them as recommended. There has to be a way to get a better germination rate out of these things without nicking each seedcoat individually (which I have been doing for the larger seeded ones - it takes forever!!!!). What's the secret? Would cold stratification help for some species.... which ones? I'm thinking mostly of species from the cooler montane regions of eastern Australia... the only ones that have a shot at growing way up here in the Seattle area. Thanks!

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Comments (5)

conifer_nut
19 years ago
A lot of Australian native plants regerate after a bushfire goes through them.Most Acacias as well.Try placing your seeds in a shallow metal dish and then stack some kindling wood and some larger wood in a pyramid shape over the dish and then simply light the fire and let it burn out.Probably a ten minute burn would be enough to mimick a bushfire condition.Carefully sift the seeds from the burnt wood and sow in the ground probably about 1/2 inch deep.See how that goes.Hope this helps, C.N.
Robert_NSW
19 years ago
I fear that ten minutes of heat from such a large fire as Conifer nut has decribed is surely going to kill your seeds.

It often depends on which Acacia you are propagating. Some seeds will be destroyed if they are exposed to hot water for too long. Other seeds will swell after ten minutes. Some require a couple of applications of hot water. If you have already given the seeds the hot water treatment, you can often repeat it with the lot that have not responded and get more success. Many Acacias will only give around fifty percent germination with hot water.
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Just the other day I was reading an old thread on GW, and a poster was saying he scarified some Black Mondo grass seeds by mixing them with sand and grinding them between two boards. He said it simulated what happens to the seeds when they are swallowed by birds, get ground up in their gizzards, and are then pooped out. I was thinking it might be easier to just rub them between 2 pieces of coarse sand paper. But whatever works right? LOL Gizzard: Also called ventriculus. a thick-walled, muscular pouch in the lower stomach of many birds and reptiles that grinds food, often with the aid of ingested stones or grit.
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Pattie: You have a big as well as multiple questions. I can contribute only a little of my experience. 1. Pretreatment: some seeds need chill treatment. Some need soaking in water. some need to be sanitized to kill moldy surface.( make sure the seeds are viable, otherwise there are possible some immature or underdeveloped seeds) 2. I use 50% by 50% of ground peat and perlite. The wet mixture is well heated in microwave. Mostly the media is for germinating my camellia, peony, gardenia and Wintersweet seeds. 3. I tried it on M. champaca and produced a few very weak seedlings. Now I use approach grafting. It is much easier and quicker to produce larger plant. There are at least 9 Grafted plants in the process in my yard and I shall have 9 good size M. champaca plants ready next year.
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Hi there, here is some info from PlantzAfrica.com that will help you ... "For best results sow fresh seed in spring. Before sowing, remove the bright orange tuft of hairs attached to the seed (aril of each seed) and soak in a aqueous solution of ethrel at a concentration of 2000 ppm active constituent, for 48 hours. In practical terms this entails making up 6ml ethrel (39.5% active ingredient) to a litre of water. Sow in seedtrays filled with a well-drained soil medium at a depth of 1,5 times the size of the seed. A constant temperature of 25 C is most suitable for germination as low temperatures retard germination. Germination takes four to eight weeks. Seedlings should be a good size before transplanted (two to three leaves) into a well drained medium. Young strelitzia plants must be grown in shade, for the leaves tend to burn in direct sunlight. Regular repotting allows the young plant to develop rapidly. Restricting the root development retards growth. " Also: "To increase the amount of seed most strelitzia flowers are hand pollinated at Kirstenbosch. This is done by gently scraping the pollen off with a finger or a stick, and placing it on the tip of the stigma of another plant. It takes a few months for the seed to ripen during which the green pods are often eaten by squirrels. To prevent this, the old flower heads are covered with brown paperbags after the flowers have been pollinated and the seeds start to develop. " Source: National Botanical Institute SA Hope this helps. D
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acacia seeds
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Comments (2)
You need to break through the hard, waterproof outer layer of the seed coat, to allow absorption of water by the embryo. There are several ways: you can nick each seed with a knife, or (easier) rub briefly between sheets of sandpaper; then soak for at least half a day in water (lukewarm to start with), when you should see the seeds swell in size. Then plant. Alternatively you can pour boiling water over the seeds, but it must be sufficiently shallow that it cools in only 5-10 minutes, otherwise you will boil and hence kill the embryo. Some people go further and light a fire of dead leaves over their seeds, but this a bit risky and should not be necessary. If you have enough seeds there is no harm in trying several approaches, to see which one works best. If all else fails, you can experiment with smoke water. Try a Google search on, say, 'smoke' and 'germination' together and you should find heaps of information.
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Wilky
19 years ago
Have a look at 'treesforlife.org.au' and hunt around that site. It has good info on many species. I've grown many acacias and have only used the hot water treatment - successfully.
gregaryb
19 years ago
Scraping them on fine sand paper works best. No risk of cooking the seeds and most will swell.
lucaci
13 years ago
The 100% way is to take the seed complitly from the coat! No one tells you about that...i do it like that:
1-Nick the coat seed each side so you get 4 sides nicked (i do it with drill and special nozzle that is like sand paper)
2-Spill hot water on it inside metal or glass bowl
3-Leave it for a night
4-Gently take the seed out of coat and it is ready to plant
5-The seeds raise up in 3 days.

Acacia seed pretreatment/germination

Comments (5)

conifer_nut

Robert_NSW

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Wilky

gregaryb

lucaci

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