seeking source for "tacca" and "akebia" chocolate vine

I ordered these from an online supplier that did not specify the amount of seeds: NINE in each packet (Plants of Distinction)...

Any ideas where to find more?

Will trade... these seem hard to find and expensive!

Steve

Did you trade them all away?

~* Robin

No! I finally got the back ordered/shorted seeds and there were only NINE (9) seeds in each packet. Did not trade any on DG as I planned. Have one relative I promised some to.

Bummer!

Do I owe you some? Hope not!

Steve

Steve... I have plenty of Black Tacca Bat seeds if ya need some. I think I sowed all my white ones already . LMK

YES! Will take them and distribute to many DGers here on Seed Trading Forum.

SASBE?

Steve

Sending you an email Steve.

Steve,
I spent a year of my life trying to start akebia from seed. NO success. I think I tried every
method known to mankind. lol
Apparently they must be started when extremely fresh & I could never trade or buy them fresh enough.
I went through 100's of seeds. I think you will save yourself time and money, not to mention
frustration, if you trade for a rooted cutting or just buy a plant.
Mellingers is going out of business & has 2 varieties
(you need 2 varieties if you want them to fruit) and they are 30% off.
http://www.mellingers.com/results.tpl?command=search&db=catalog.txt&eqakudatarq=30580&cart=111017001331618&slave_to=&bob=30580&akusort=1&akusdir=as&slave_totype=num&akutype=num&bobtype=num
I also remember seeing them in One Green Worlds catalog, but they were rather expensive if I recall.
Hope that helps.
Donna

Donna did you chill yours first? I planted bunches and had a mess cuz they all came up at once and started vining around each other faster than I could keep up.

I soaked mine in water and hyrogen peroxide for three days and then planted . Put in like a six pack and put the six pack in a gallon baggie and give 80 degree heat til they sprout. At a constant 80 degrees the soil warms up enough to cause them to germinate. two degrees lower and ya could be waiting three months for em to pop.

I keep seeing peroxide used to germinate seeds. Is there a formula for this? What is the purpose of the peroxide?
Kathy

I've heard 1 T to a qt. and 1 T to a gal. Not sure which is which. I guess it cuts down on the fungus/mold whatever that causes damping off.

From this link to a daylily starting site http://daylily6.tripod.com/Step_1.html
the formula works out to about 2 oz. per gallon, or 1 Tbsp. per quart.

That's using the standard 3% hydrogen peroxide solution that's available in any drug store's first aid section.

I've been switching between this solution and weak chamomile tea for moistening seed starting mix & watering new sprouts!

i cant never get chocalte vine to germinate from seeds either. i finally gave up. i tried everything to get them to grow and they just rot.

;-(

Hey, starlight -- Did you mean Donna SHOULD have chilled her akebia seed, or she should NOT chill it?

I've got my electric oven light producing a nice constant 79-80 degree temperature, so I'm hoping that will work well.

keep us posted, crit!

GIANTS game on the radio!!! Plants and baseball... happy fella! Lead off stand up dbl for the team! YAY!

This message was edited Mar 9, 2005 12:05 PM

Critter, they do need chilling to break dormacy.

Thanks for The Word, (Donna) - PudgyMudpies!

~* Robin

Pudg____M,

How much chilling for how long?

Tacca is a tropical plant.

???

Steve

Steve, the cold strat was for the akebia, I have no idea on the tacca.
Here is a link to one of the methods I used:
http://www.virtualseeds.com/Germination.html
and it says 4 weeks of cold strat. But I tried shorter & I tried longer, no success. I also tried all the above methods with nick/soaking too. Starlight, were your seeds really fresh?

I chill every seed that would be considered a perennial. The reason being that out in nature the seeds would naturally experience cold temps before sprouting again.

Once chilled I use one of them small candle burnign size cups. Think it holds about 4 ounces of water. I put the water in then pour just about a quarter of a cap of the hydrogen peroxide into the water. I also add one drop of Ajax antibacterial degerent soap.

Note: The Hyrdogen peroxide and the soap should be removed after 24 hours. Both of them help kill and fungus that may be on the seed coat. After 24 hours though the peroxide cna have a negative effect and start drying out the embryo.

One of the reasons I use the small glass holder is because I can put 20 to 30 seeds in it at one time . After the 24 hours I very carefull tip the glass and dump out the water mixture. Holding the seeds in the pam of my hand. Make sure you have the drain in the kitchen sink. When I first started this method I lost seeds here and there where they slipped out my hand and watched em go down the drain. LOL

Rinse the seeds real good. If your not hand cordinated use a baby strainer to catch them. If the seeds still feel like a bullet put them back in the glas container with warm but not hot water and let soak another 24 hours. The water always has to be changed after 24 hours.

I have left the seeds for the akebia as long as 4 and 5 days in the water. Sometimes I wil leave them stay in there until I see the radicle start to emerge. Then just potted em right up. Once the radicle starts emerging though ya don't want to put any type of plastic over them just keep warm at 80 degrees.

Other times after soaking I will just pot up and keep at a constant 80 degrees.

One trick too I use with all the tropicals and any seed that I am starting is for top dressing just use vermiculite.

I just finished sprouting close to 35 white agapanthus in a few days from sittign them on the back of my monitor. It a great place for constant heat for anybody who doesn't have a heat lamp and wants to start stuff in two too three days.

My white bats I chilled too. I used non -soil seedling mix. wet the tray .. let it drain good plante dmy seeds. covered with vermiculite. Took a plant label and cut it into 4 section. Curtain blinds works just as well and is cheaper. stuck a piece in the end of each try. Put in the baggy and put at constant 80 degrees and it been about a week and they starting to bust through the vermiculite.

Thing ya really gotta watch though is one they are up ya gotta get em out of the bagy but stil keep them at the 80 degrees and give em light round the clock. When they dry out water from the bottom.

I always leave one slot with no seed in it that way I can always stick my finger into the soil and see exactly how wet the soil is that way ya don't get root root or open yourself up for damping off.

Muddpuggies. ... I have germinated choco seeds that were three years old even doing it this way.

Some people try and plant fresh seeds, but I don't and I was taught at hort college the inner working of a seed down to eaxtly what goes on while it sittign there and what happens once that first drop of water hits it and when ya use fresh seed it doesn't give the seed the time it needs to shut down certain metabolical activities and start other ones.

A seed is a living thing and it under goes lots of changes even if we don't see it. Of couse your always gonna have those seeds that wil never sprout and that is because the inside was not fully developed when it was picked or dropped. I generally get between 80 and 85 % germination from hard to sow seeds using my method.

I never nick any seeds except canna and I nick them by runnign them along a pair of dog nail clippers.

I forgot I chill everything for at least 3 weeks if ya stand the wait 30 days is better.






This message was edited Mar 9, 2005 10:23 PM

Okay! The akebia seeds are going into the fridge for a month! Can I put them in as they are (sealed plastic packet), or should I be doing the damp perlite thing?

Wonderful info Starlight! Thanks for sharing.

Don't need no perlite for them. The damp and that is barely damp perlite I use for hard tree seeds. The opening and closing of the freezer and the defrost going on and off even though only a little bit of time expands and contracts the perlite which not only provides moisture but grates upon the seed coat for germination.

We used to use a little joke between us for seed sprouting and time. Kinda immature but always helped with foriegn exchange students.

Annuals.. "And I am off to the races" They gotta do their business all in a season so they sprout real fast.

Perennials. " I got time, so pookey I will be" They take twice to three times as long to germinate.

Evergreens and Deciduous. " Didn't ever think They was gonna sprout. " A month or better for germination, cuz they gonna last a life time takes a lot of energy to hang in for the long haul.

Tropicals and Exotics.... " Tempermental . Take their good old time"
Proper heat and moisture and humidity can sprout in three days to three months.

One problem some people have with germinating the tropical and what i call special seeds if they never keep the temps hot enough long enough.

People get tired of having an area where it has to be 80 constantly. A degree up and and a degree down makes a big difference as far as seed germination goes.

Once the weather starts warming up out side people start turning their air conditioners on and fans and opening windows and while that little bit of cooler air feels good to use it has major effects on the seeds and the soil.

I am a freeze bug and temps below 85 I am always cold. So my place is always like a hot box. If ya don't want to waste your seeds and a way to check if your soil temps is at a constant 80 is make your a blank seed tray up and put it in the baggy and place it in the spot your gonna use. Leave it sit there for three days. At the end of three days have a themomator ready and open the bagy up and take the temp of the soil immediately. Cuz once you open the bag and outside air gets in the soil temp starts dropping immediately. If your soil temp registers at 80 not 78 or 79 but 80 then you good to go for that spot. Every degree the temp is lower means longer germination time for that seed and can even cuse the seed to stop it's germination process and it will go back all the way to the begining to start the process over again once it has the constant heat temp. That why sometimes people find seeds they had given up on sprouting three and four months later.

PudgyMudpies. .. I still have a few Akebia left would ya like a couple to try over again if ya don't have any? Mine have already been chilled. LMK

Well, now you have me trying to adjust the arrangement of kitchen towel holding oven door ajar *just* enough and not too much.... I know I can't close it, as that produces temperatures of 87 or 88 degrees! I have a heat mat coming, so perhaps I'll do better with that when the akebia seeds have finished their hibernation.

The seeds I received were from a white-flowering akebia, so I'm hoping to get a couple of plants to give to a friend who adores white chocolate... he'd love to have a white chocolate vine, I think, and it might be just the thing to add a little privacy by their hot tub!