anyone have them? do you have any Growing tips from seeds?
PROTEA CORONATA
In last fall I tried from seeds and only four seeds germinated but after a month all seedling died. If some one have good tips , please share with us.
Kaleem
Some South African plants require smoke treatment to germinate--not sure if Proteas are like that or not. At the very least, there's probably nicking, soaking, etc involved--wherever you buy the seeds from should give you directions on what's appropriate. From everything I've ever heard, they're one of the more challenging plants to start from seed, so if you don't have a lot of experience starting seeds I would try to look for a source of the plants instead.
I also know they can't tolerate phosphorus containing fertilizer, so you need to make sure your seed starting mix (or potting soil if you buy a plant) doesn't have phosphorus in it. Also, I'm not positive on this, but I don't think they like summer rain and humidity either--I noticed you're in Florida so you might want to check on whether they'll be happy in your climate or not before you try them.
I know they do go in the garden island... and from what I know.. that gets lots of rain.. I know Fl and Hawaii should grow about the same plants! ?
I'll look for more info.. and if it works.. I'll fess up! lol
I did google and found this site.. http://www.californiaproteamgmt.com/growing_protea.html
Here is another awesome site! http://finebushpeople.co.za/Protea_growing_instructions.html
This message was edited Jun 17, 2006 10:16 PM
Proteas don't like to be transplanted, they have very deep tap roots.If the tap root gets broken or injured they seem to die. In Africa they grow in arid areas with dry and rainy seasons. Fl. may not work well for them.too wet and humid.They need rocky lime soils and usually grow on hillsides.Once established they don't seem to need much water other than nature provides.We grew these in San Diego.Was a very large Protea nursery years back in Escondido, Ca. They sold flowers(proteas) and banksias(same growing conditions)The seed pods need fire to open them, other than that not sure if the seeds need smoked to germinate.Gorgeous plants but a real challenge to grow.
I have always wanted to grow these but understood that it is way too humid here.
The smoke treatment that I mentioned is a substitute for exposing them to fire (supposedly at least, no idea how well it actually works). It's a powder that supposedly has the same chemicals in it that would be released during a fire. I'm not sure how the people that sell the seeds get them out of the pods--if they burn them out, then you probably wouldn't need the smoke treatment, but if they have some other means of removing them then maybe that's when you need the smoke treatment.
I checked them out also, and got excited when I saw a post for them here in tropicals but im afraid Rylaff is right , humidity is too high they like the air dry, which is why they do so well in CA.