>>I was also fortunate to receive 3 seeds of Synandrospadix vermitoxicus
last November, compliments of the magnanimous Alan Galloway. Having
recalled some brief comments Julius Boos posted over a year ago on the
germination of this species*, I performed a small experiment:
- All 3 seeds were sown into the same well wetted mix; 1 per 4" (10 cm) pot.
- All 3 pots were placed atop a gro-mat, thermostat set to 80? F / 23? C.
- One pot was covered with an inverted Zip-Loc baggie (not sealed) to
maintain
moisture/humidity, the other 2 were left exposed- their soil kept "barely
damp".
- Within 3 weeks, the one covered seed germinated. No activity in the other
pots.
- After development of the first leaf, I re-soaked all 3 pots then
repositioned the
baggie onto the adjacent (dormant) potted seed.
- Just over 3 weeks later, THAT seed sprouted.
And in case you didn't already guess, I later repeated this procedure one
last time
with the exact same results on the 3rd seed- giving 100% germination.
---
Sooo...
Notwithstanding Julius' recent comments about delayed germination & survival
strategies (which make perfect sense), I'm nonetheless led to believe this
species
requires constant moisture and heat in order to germinate. Perhaps those
lengthy or
otherwise erratic results others have experienced can be traced to local
environmental
conditions finally being "right" (warm + moist) for sufficient time to
finally induce
germination. Or... perhaps my bouncing baggie game was mere coincidence
(?).
Next time anyone makes/receives seed of this plant, it would be neat if you
could
try this for yourself and let us know your results!
Respectfully submitted,
-Dan Levin
* ("Synandrospadix success." April 15, 2000)
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