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Post by dvg on Jun 17, 2020 12:03:29 GMT -5
Recently received some Catopsis berteroniana seed as a bonus in a plant order. (Thanks Cole!) The seed was produced by a mother plant that arrived with the following location data--"near Santa Elena, Gran Sabana, Venezuela". I've started Catopsis before from seed, and a match or lighter is briefly employed to remove the fluff from the seed, before the seeds get potted up. dvg
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Post by gj on Jul 7, 2020 15:02:36 GMT -5
dvg , va , and any others that have grown Catopsis, Have you guys always burned the fluff off? Or have you tried growing them as is? I just stumbled across an article from 2011 about how the coma (which I just learned is the name for the tuft of hair near end of the seed) helps Catopsis seeds germinate and grow. Now first off, the study was done with Catopsis sessiliflora rather than berteroniana, so I don't know if they are different enough for the findings not to apply to both. Also, it appears that they trimmed the extra fluff that helps the wind to disperse the seeds, so it isn't like they were leaving all of the hair attached. But they did find that with the seeds' coma intact, the germination rate was higher, and the plants grew faster (at 6 weeks, plants with coma removed were around 50% the size of those with the coma intact). I'll also add that the greatest disparity in germination rates between seeds with the coma, and those without, occurred when seeds were exposed to drier conditions, so perhaps this doesn't apply to our attempts at germination since we often try to give ideal conditions to begin with. I also don't know if, when the fluff is burnt off, the coma actually goes with it, or if the little flash of fire is sufficiently short enough to spare the coma (in which case, we can ignore all of what I've written above haha). Just thought I might do some experimenting in the future if everybody else has been sticking with the burn clean method! If anyone is interested in checking out the article, you can read it on Jstor here. It is free to read online with the free Jstor account (free account just limits the number of articles you can read per month). Also, I'm still no scientist, so if you identify something I missed, or a mistake I made reading it, please do call me out on it haha.
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Post by dvg on Jul 7, 2020 15:58:12 GMT -5
Hi GJ, that is a very interesting point that you've brought up here. The tufts of fluff are used for wind dispersal, but also can be used to wick moisture in to the seed, so that makes sense. I have only tried them once before from seed, and used the flame method to remove the fluff. The reasoning at the time was that ridding the seeds of their fluff would also rid any potential fungal issues, always lurking and laying in wait to pounce on unsuspecting seeds, from occurring. If you have a few seeds, you could try both methods, scissors vs flame, and see which turns out better for you. dvg
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Post by gj on Aug 22, 2020 10:49:16 GMT -5
I've been noticing some swelling, and some little points of green in the Catopsis seeds I received from Cole, so I thought I'd get an update in. Based on an article I shared above, I thought I would try applying flame to half the seeds I had, while just trimming the long hairs off of the other half of the seeds to ensure the coma was still intact, hoping to see if there was any dramatic difference in germination and growth. I don't know why, but I decided to grab a quick clip of the fire treatment haha: I then sowed them, and placed them in a ziploc bag to maintain humidity. A couple weeks ago, the tips of the seeds had clearly begun to swell, but it wasn't until just a couple days ago that I started seeing some green. There appears to be two that are clearly starting in the "burn" pot, and one that is at about the same stage in the "trim" pot. Most of the other seeds in both pots appear to be swelling at about the same rate so far. One of the two burnt seeds that has begun to germinate: And the trimmed one that has breached its casing:
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Post by bonfield on Aug 23, 2020 0:10:03 GMT -5
Great results Gary, the pics are especially nice! I still have a few seeds left over if you were interested.
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Post by gj on Aug 23, 2020 12:43:07 GMT -5
Thanks Cole! I'm excited to see how they develop. And I've certainly got room for them if they need a home.
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Post by dvg on Aug 24, 2020 12:03:30 GMT -5
Looking good GJ! That seed fuzz burns up in a flash. dvg
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Post by gj on Aug 24, 2020 12:40:05 GMT -5
Thanks DVG!
It is quite the little fireball when ignited. Any action on yours?
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Post by dvg on Aug 24, 2020 16:22:36 GMT -5
Haha, it's really surprising how fast it burns. GJ, no action on mine, as i've yet to sow them. I'll have to get them and some other seeds sown soon. dvg
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