mine have not germinated. I soaked seeds overnite and planted about 2 weeks ago and no action. Please tell me what I need to do so I don't blow the last two seeds I have. thanks
what did I do wrong with my castor beans?
i dont know what you did wrong but i have 5 seeds left of red castor bean you are welcome too. they were sent to me by someone here but i am not gonna use them all. let me know. Marie
Hmmmm......have you poked around in the soil to see if they are rotting or just being slow pokes?
I germinated severl by Winter sowing them, and a few others the Deno (wet paper towel) way.
I too have more seed of the 'red' if you'd like some.
Thanks marie, I will take you up on your offer, see your address in the exchange, will send you a SASE.
Rikerbear, I have not "poked", that was going to be me next step. also, with the seeds I'm getting from imzadi, I will do the paper towel thing. That method has worked for me really well on other plants.
edited to say: I just realized I posted this in "plant trading" forum. meant to put in tropicals. Didn't mean to solicit seeds, though I am thankful to both of you for offering.
This message was edited Mar 2, 2005 12:52 PM
Gee, I've never heard of reluctant beans. We planted ours in the ADC Group last Thursday, and by Monday morning they were poking their precious little noses up into the air. I'll bet yours will be meandering around any second now!
just send a note along with it. so i know what its for. i havent started mine yet because our temps cant make up its mind. last night in was 24. too cold. hehe
am gonna try the paper towel way myself.
I sometimes take a razor blade and chip off a tiny piece of shell. They come up in a couple of days that way if it's warm enough.
I planted some last year that were hollow. Did they float or sink when you soaked them? They crush very easily when they are hollow. If you need extras send me an e-mail.
If they float they are bad :-) Bad seed, bad bad bad seed LOL
oh, I did remember noticing that the 4 seeds I soaked never went to the bottom. I didn't think much of it at the time. Those babies are not going to germinate.
Sinkers are the good ones....floaters are the bad ones
now i am confused. some seeds do float and still are good.
is this sinker rule only for castor beans??? i know mgs float and everyone that floats germinates. just curious.
Hmmm.....I've been known to be wrong on things before, but for me it has held true on Castor, and Scarlet Runner beans.
I'm pretty sure it's true of all beans, but I sure the heck hope it's not the case with White Camelia seeds!!!
I have never soaked my castors. LOL I have opened enough of them and there has never been much in any of them.
Vossner got the sase today. will go back out first thing monday. Marie
Vossner, My castors have been slow to come up as well........ I planted on 2/20 and have five from a flat finally poking up ..... I didn't soak my seeds and I suspect I planted them to deep. I've dug a couple out and they are hard still so I don't think they are rotting ..... I tucked them back in and hope it's just an issue of more time...... they may be a lost cause but I hate to give up to soon..... I also have a ton more beans if you need more........
If the temps are warm enough, they should pop up. You can always try taking a razor blade or knife and just chipping the shell or scraping a little piece off of the seed casing.
I went and checked mine again this morning..... they may not be showing at the top but the roots are sprouting all over out the bottom of the pots....... Leave it to me to get it backwards.... : - P
LOL Well at least you have a root! If you get a root, there's a real good chance you'll get a stem and leaves soon. :)
Hey, where are the castor beans??? I've been looking through all the seed racks at various stores and where as it's usually difficult to find them, this year NONE!!!
What's up? Have they stopped selling them for some reason?
you know i was thinking the same thing today. i would love to have another color but didnt see any on the seed racks.
OH MY GOSH.... Yesterday I had nothing but roots.... Today all have surfaced....... I have tons of red castors if anyone needs them for a SASE ..... I'll gladly share .....
Yesterday - this was all I had
Today.....
YEAH! Way to go! Congrats!
Marie, my seeds arrived in yesterday's mail. Thank you so very much. I can't wait to get them going. Temps are in the hi 70's in my neck of the wooks so things are beginning to look alive. From the pix from vs71099 I can see that my original batch was definitely not going to come out. Again, thanks.
Can you guys describe to me the paper towel method some of you refered to. Last year I had trouble germinating my castors, but the year before they came up without any trouble at all. I have some that I nicked and are soaking right now. However, they are all floating.......time will tell. Jenny
The stores no longer carry Castor Bean seeds because the seeds are poinsonous. Children may eat them or pick them off your plants and eat them. Do no grow them in the house if you have small children and do not grow them in the yard if kids play there.
The reason Castor Oil worked for constipation was because it was poisonous and gave you diarrhea.
Jenny,
There are several ways to germinate seed with paper towels, coffee filters, etc.
I have had luck doing it this way: http://www.robsplants.com/baggy.php
Thanks smilin32! :o) Jenny