Tropical Hibiscus from seed

I have several seeds to try; can anyone direct me to information about growing them from seed? Thanks.

Soak in warm water overnight and plant just covered in a sterile soiless seed starting mix, keep warm and moist till they come up,
Bright light, no direct sun till the seedlings have several sets of leaves. Transplant the seedlings when about 2 1/2 inches tall and be careful with the roots they are very brittle when young.
:-)

I was told you had to nick the seed first to help with a speedy germination.
I have used this method and had 100% germ. with fresh seed, and 80% with 7 mo. old seed.

Heres a few info links...
http://www.trop-hibiscus.com/hibseed.html
http://internationalhibiscussociety.org/wmvfiles/MOVIE4.wmv

Thank you both so much. This sounds as though it is something I can carry out fairly easily. I am certainly looking forward to my first seedlings.

Gloria

I never nick mine and get about 90% germination after soaking.They come up with bottom heat in about 2-3 wks.

GLORIAG
Where did you find tropical seeds? I have a couple dozen tropicals and I've never had 1 go to seed. Most all of my hardies produce seed but never a tropical. I was under the impression that many tropical hybrids were only available via cuttings. Well now that I think about it, many hybrids(of all kinds of plants) are only propagated via cuttings to ensure you get exactly what you want.
I look forward to seeing how yours turn out.
Best of luck;)
JD

JD, tropical hibiscus need to be pollinated in order to have some possibilities - in general there's a low percentage (20-30%) on success - to get seeds. As you say tropical hibiscus aren't true from seeds so you will always get a new variety, similar or not to its parents.
The webpage of the IHS (International Hibiscus Society) has a video section where you can watch how to pollinate and more things.
http://www.internationalhibiscussociety.org/

Regards

Carlos

Thank you, Carlos, I do intend to cross pollinate them next summer.
I was studying the photos and the crossing parents on the Intenational Hibiscus Society, and I was struck by the huge variations which came from readily available plants which were crossed. This amazed me.
I was able to get seeds from the American Hibiscus Society and the Austrailan Hibiscus Society. I found the information here on the Hibiscus Forum not too long ago. I hope by next year, I will have an ample number of seeds myself. As it was, even though I cross pollinated several, only one pod has survived to a large size, but it has not matured yet, and may not indoors.

After being out of town for a week I came home to find 3 enormous seed heads on my Black Dragon. I quickly snipped them off as the plant is young and I don't want any strength diverted to seed production. It occurred to me however that this plant must be unusually easy to pollinate; certainly easier than my other hibiscus that rarely have (naturally) pollinated seed heads. Has anyone else noticed this?