Brugmansia from seed????

Has anyone here started brugmansia from seed? I recently bought some Sweet Knight Brugmansia and was wondering what medium should I use to start it? Also, any tips that would help me would be greatly appreciated.:D

tinkerbell, i don't recognize the name, was their a description with them? leaving your question to be answered by the real authorities....

I am no authority, especially when it come to Brugmansia sowing.

Even if I have sown them before, I used another method, but I just learned how to do it right from you guys *lol* and have recently sowed a lot. Nothing came up yet, but *lol* a germinating Brugmansia seed under a week is to ask for miracles *lol* Some can take a month or more to sprout.

Here is, how I do it. The seeds are soaked in water for 24 hours and then I peel of the seed coat and sow the seeds. I use the socalled Mini-greenhouses with 8 x 5 small spaghnum pots inside. Each little pot are 3" deep and measures 1.5 x 1.5 ". I use average sterile sow media or coarse sand or gravel, that I flush with boiling water before sowing in it. Then I fill the pots half with sow media and enter three seeds in each and cover with ½" sowming media.

I don't peel the seeds at all. I simply lay a bag of metro mix over the top of the seed tray and pour this out. Push the dirt around until all crevices are filled. Then simply lay the seeds on top of the soil and push down with ones finger to about the first joint. No, I did not say smoke a joint! Keep the trays up off of the ground and water once in the morning and once in the evening with a light sprinkle. Any sprinkler system will do....For larger amounts of seed...Make a few wooden tables with spaces 1/4 inch between each plank of wood. Lay 10 or so trays per table-4 tables should be enough to start a descent crop with each tray holding approximately 72 seeds. You could try peeling them with the latter method, but I find that may take some time with a larger amount. I simply squeeze the seed heads off of them with a gentle pinch after running a sprinkler over the top of them for 10 or so minutes. Temps in the range of 74-110 seem to work great for starting aurea, versicolor, suaveolens type seedlings. Those types of Brugmansia seedlings are exceptionally easy to start in a Florida greenhouse in the middle of the summer or outside. Hope that helps,
Brugmansia

Lol,4th sentence tickled my "funny bone",still lurking to learn'''Sis'

This message was edited Saturday, Jan 12th 8:01 AM

Sis, I saw that too!! Eric, I do believe you are loosening up a bit!! I sow mine like that now. I have peeled and it seems to make them germinate more evenly, but it is a time consuming process.

tinkerbell, do your seeds look like little wood chips?

The last batch I peeled had little white strips come off...I was thinking that might be the germination embryo. I planted anyway in hopes they were something else. Needless to say I quit peeling.

I am sure Brugman has planted more brug seeds in the last 4 years than i will in a life time!!! gotta take his word on it. it is kinda fun to peel thru and see what the little beans look like though.

I have some seeds from CC that I planted. Half I peeled and the other have I didn't. Waiting to see how they do.

I just did a google search on Sweet Knight - all I got was Seedman. Are you sure that it's a brug? It seems to be listed in with the daturas. Brug seeds have a corky covering.

Anyone have pictures of Brug seeds and Datura seeds to show tinkerbell the difference?

no, but if you look at valleygrow.com, near the bottom under just pics, he has quite a few good pics of seeds and pods...can't do a link, the pages are numbered, http just says valleygrow where ever you go.

Just posted a picture of Brug and Datura seeds. Hope this helps.

I had some seeds from Earl that had been planted 2 months. 22 of them came up and a bunch hadn't germinated. I transl=planted the seedlings to 4.5" pots, dumped out the soil and picked out what seeds I could find. I peeled the corky covering off and found a dozen or so good seeds. I replanted these in new soil and a new pot. Several seeds had rotted, the seed was squishy inside the cork. I also noticed the soil was way wetter than I thought it to be. Remember, don't overwater, I think that's why some of mine rotted. I turned up the heat mat to 72*F to dry them out a little. Hope I didn't mess up again.

I am getting ready to go start my first seeds......I am so excited.....I have never done brugs!!!!Glory sent them to me....
Isabella!!! Wish me luck!!!!!

so far, its been 2 weeks on this past thursday , the only thing that has happened is m vermiculite (that white stuff) is turning green :(

Mings, it's okay if it turns green, it's just some algae and it seems to grow on the vermiculite or perlite faster than anywhere else. When you worry is when the algae makes a crust on top of the soil.

Ming did you soak your seeds? I'm finding the ones I peeled are growing much better than the non -peeled. I'm getting a lot of headless ones from the non-peeled.

Something ATE one of my brugmansia seedlings today, waaaaah!

Crust~~~~EW!!!!! Don;t want that. I did soak overnite. no peel. Am peeling this next batch for sure to see the difference. maybe my grow light is too far away. How close do you have yours?

Uh Oh! I planted my new brug seeds I got from Glory today, and I didn't peel or soak. I just planted in potting soil and put them under the grow lights. Should I dig them back out and peel and soak them? I wish I would have found this thread before I planted them.

JoanJ, I did that too, I planted 12-24 and guess what??? They are coming up today!!!

I'm glad I found this thread....I am getting ready to plant my first brug seeds this week. If I decide to peel them, what is the correct way to do that? I bought the little greenhouse things with expanding little peat pots that you put the lid over.....is that good for them (never let me loose in a garden center unattended)!! I bought three regular and one with a heating pad....How much direct light do they need...I was thinking of setting this up on my screened porch that gets bright morning light and bringing them in the house at night. Any further suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
Suzy

Phwew! Thanks Cala. At least now I know I didn't totally mess them up. It took way over a month for them to come up though, didn't it? I won't give up on them.

suzy, only peel the bigger ones. You might have some small ones in there, they should just soak. I peel then soak, if I do it the other way around, I sometimes break the seed. Just carefully start taking the corky layer off, and little by little you'll get to the seed. Some are easier than others. If it's giving you fits, put that one down and let it go like that. Sometimes I find a half peeled seed will finish up easily after soaking. Try it both ways and see what you think is easier. LMK how it does, I can replace :)
Eric doesn't soak at all, but I get a lot with no leaves if I don't peel for some reason.

Hi tiG....If they come up without leaves....do they ever produce leaves as they grow? And what I understand is that I should peel before I soak normally?

I think there are some that soak, then peel, but I am clumsy and have nicked the seeds that way. The seeds just seem more tender when already wet. As for if they get leaves, well, I'm letting them sit, but I doubt it.

I'm about ready to dig my seeds out of the dirt and peel and soak. Sound like a good idea? I'm getting real worried here. Glory was kind enough to send me them seeds and I don't really want to ruin them because I did something wrong. I only planted them today, so I can still get them back. Can someone give me some advice on this? I thought they might be okay, since Cala's came up, but no leaves? I don't want that to happen either. Cala, do your seedlings have leaves?

Joan - who obviously has never grown brugs before and is as nervous as a new mother.

I don't peel mine and they come up pretty good,tried an experiment,peeled half, didn't peel other half,there was only a 2 day germination difference.If they come up with the seed still attached,spray it a few times close together till its really soft and gently pry the seed off the plant.It ususally works for me.....

JoanJ, Nooooooooo, don't dig them up. I killed some by doing that!! The looked like swolen seeds, but when I tried to peel them, there were little roots sticking out and I broke them off.
I am slowly learning to leave things alone. I soaked some, but didn't peel and they are up. I peeled and soaked some and they aren't up yet, planted the same time. Never can tell. I agree with TiG, it's easier to peel first, because when the "seed" starts to soften, it's easy to nick or damage.

I got the best germination rates when I peeled and then soaked. Now I've been trying not to peel and I'm not doing as well. But that's what works for me, not the same for everyone.

wow calalily! I am still in luck! I did mine jan.17........ I am doing good then with nothing!

wow, you are doing great!! I need lessons, my seed take longer than anybody. (and I have a green house with heat mats)

I wonder if it's a genetic thing with the headless ones. Maybe the weaker ones just don't have the umphf to get the leaves out. Survival of the fittest? But then again... I also wonder if those headless ones might be the best colors that will never have the chance to be..

Poppysue, I usually very carefully pick the stuck seeds off. A pair of manicure scissors works wonders to clip just enough to make it let go. My worst problem is the little tiny slugs that eat the leaves off. I had this happen to 2 of CC's seedlings, and kept them anyway. One is making tiny tiny little "buds" at the soil line.

Calla these are ones that are coming up with no stuck-on seedcoat or leaves. Just the headless stem. At first I thought it might me - damaging them when I peeled. But these are ones that I didn't peel. I noticed on a couple with the stuck-on seadcoat that the base of the stem was just starting to turn brown - or rot. Of course it broke off when I tried to peel off the seed. I'm guessing that they are breaking ogff under the soil line. So much for the planting deeper theory....

Poppysue, I've had some come up with no cotyledons. And then they damp off. So sad, especially when it was an arborea seed that was hard to find. And I've had white seedlings,and they die too.

poppysue, I planted seeds in a 6 pack and three sprouted headless and the other two that have come up have leaves. I have no idea why since they get the exact same heat and care.

I don't know what causes that. I saw the little cotyledons laying beside the stem, that's how I know something got them. I would guess that poppysue's theory is right. I don't plant mine very deep. I sprinkle on the top of the soil and use my finger to push them down a little, then give the pot a little "shake" to settle the soil.