On Mon, 23 Jan 2017 20:03:54 -0000, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Mon, 23 Jan 2017 19:30:56 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:
On Mon, 23 Jan 2017 19:19:20 -0000, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Mon, 23 Jan 2017 18:26:06 -0000, "James Wilkinson Sword"
wrote:
I bought a pack of 100 Royal Empress seeds on Ebay, and not one will germinate. Am I doing something wrong? I sprinkled the seeds on some fresh compost in some pots, and kept them warm (20C) and in lots of light (some on a windowledge and some under a growlamp). Absolutely nothing happened. Duff seeds or difficult plant? I did think it odd the seeds should go on top of the soil, but that's what it says online. I've always put seeds a cm under the soil (tried that too and that failed aswell).
Royal Empress, aka Foxglove tree, botanical name Paulownia Tomentosa.
From what I read, you did all the right things. Some seeds need light
to germinate, the classic example being Flanders poppies, which lay
dormant in the soil until the trench warfare of WW1 brought them to
the surface.
My only thought is have you waited long enough, as germination can be
slow? But I also read that the temperature should be kept below 15C
otherwise germination is inhibited, so maybe you had them too warm. So
try them a bit cooler and be patient.
http://tinyurl.com/zw638kw and http://tinyurl.com/hta9b29
Ok, I'll wait longer.
But the two sites you linked to disagree on the temperature. One says under 15C, the other says 18-20C.
Disagreements like that are not uncommon in the gardening world. I
guess it reflects different people's experiences. I have actually
grown Paulownia from seed collected on the ground below a large tree
in a local public garden, so it was very fresh which can effect
germination rate of all types of seed, but it was so long ago that I
can't remember the details. :-(
I can't believe a tree that grows so fast can have such feeble seeds. Most of those sold say they have been stored at a cold temperature, presumably to make them remain "fresh".
--
What do you call an aerobics instructor who doesn't cause pain & agony?
Unemployed.