Let's talk about Pride Of Barbados Seeds.

I would never be without my dremel. I prefer the corded as you don't have to worry about the battery being charged.
In addition to seeds, I use ir for crafts, household repairs and filing the dogs nail. I just started a tray of solid yellow BOP so we'll seed how they go. I bought mine as a small plant but it has reached 8 ft and full of seeds pods.

I just received my first POB seeds in a "newbie" seed envelope this weekend. Unfortunately, I got them started in my seed trays before I happened upon this thread. I did scarify them with the dremel (a trick I had recently used on some canna seeds), but I didn't soak them for long afterwards - only about 30 minutes while I was prepping the seed tray. Then I sowed them about 1/4" deep in a jiffy pellet (one per pellet), placed them under lights on a heat mat (78-80 degrees). This was at about 6pm last night.

My question is...should I un-sow them and soak for a day or so before re-sowing? I was only given 2 seeds, and I sowed both, so I'd hate it if I messed them up & they don't germinate.

Thoughts please?? :)

I would did up and soak some more. All ya did was tickle em. LOL

I misplace dmy seeds while hostign the piggy swap, but foudn them again now tht I cleanign my mes sup and wil be sending Lily her seeds this week, if ya sen dme your addy wil toss ya a couple more in the mail of the pink.

Wow - thanks starlight! I'll dmail you with my address. Or I can send you a SASBE, if that would help.

Looks like I'll dig them up and resoak tonight. Do you think it would help to put the cup of water on the heat mat so it stays kinda warm? I could re-sow them tomorrow evening.

No. no need to put on heat mat. Just soak over night and tommorrow ya can replant. : )

Ok, I dug them up. I think they've swollen up quite a bit - or at least they seem quite a bit bigger than yesterday. I still set them up to soak for the night. Think I should replant in the morning, or will they be ok to soak until tomorrow evening? Is there any harm that can be done for soaking too long?

Woudl plant in the morning and yes too logn a soak will kil the embryo. It will liek drown and turn to mush.

ahh - ok, just to be safe i'm going to replant one of the seeds tonight before bed b/c they look to have absorbed a lot of water already. the other one i will replant in the morning. hedge my bets just a bit. thanks for all the advice and I can't wait to try your pink POB out!

I throw my comment in.

POB like most hard warm weather seeds do well if nicked, dremel works well and then soaked in H2O2 and water for 12-24 hours. In fact many seeds like canna just will not germinate without a nick and a soak unless you want to wait for years.

Part two. They need heat. I use a DIY set up made up of a plastic bin with water/H2O2 and a fish tank heater. End result is i can keep the seeds in a 80 degree humid enviroment. Add an over head light on a timer.

POB's were no problem at all for me to germinate. Freshness of the seeds may have something to do with it BTW. I got mine from a DG'er named Lazlo. He's good for fresh seeds but his ID may be a little off. LOL. Doesn't matter to me he's a good trader for those who want to trade.

BTW I always use peroxide. You can use the drug store kind straight if you want. Object is to kill off anything bad that may be on the seed. Works like bleach but milder.

I nicked and presoaked mine in water and peroxide. Took a long time to germinate but I have about 6 coming up so far in a tray of about 30 or so I planted. These are the solid yellow.

I use a variable speed dremel for many things, crafts, seed scarification, (now this one is going to gross you out but it is wonderful for trimming finger & toenails, if you are careful. Yeppers, I knew you were going to groww out on that one!!!!

Manicurists use them so why not. I do my dogs nails with my dremel.

Think I am going to try that with my doggie. Thanks.

Like the Pedi-paw, don't expect them to like it at first. LOL

Lily_love, the picture you posted is a Caesalpinia but if you compare to Plant Files I believe you will find it is Desert Bird of Paradise not Pride of Barbados

DBOP: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2120/
and
POB: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2247/
your plant is gorgeous, several birds really like it too.

angele,
Thank you for your added contribution. That clarified my error on the two different plants. You're correct. I do have the DBOP and not the POB. Many thanks.
(I did purchased the DBOP from a trip out to NM and brought it back home to the SE). ^_^

I noticed many plants growning under my larger one, only in the years we get lots of rain. So I always tell everyone to soak them for a day or 2 before planting.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Bird%20of%20Paradise&w=8229897%40N03

Just to let you know that where I live they reseed like mad! They love the conditions here. My neighbor planted one and now the vacant lot between our homes has more than 20 full size plants growing with new ones coming every year. They are so pretty and the Orioles and Hummingbirds love them. I do pull the ones that come up in my yard, none have come up exactly where I would like one. If you find that you are getting more plants than you want you can just cut off the seed pods and dispose of them. I don't really know if the plant spreads by suckers but I don't think it is much of a problem. Congratulations on your beautiful plant, in my opinion the Caesalpinia flowers are exquisite.

Looks like everyone has taken care of the problem of scarifying the seed , BUT, my neighbor plants Morning Glories which also need to be broken. She puts about a cup of water in the blender (not the one she uses for food), drops the seeds inside, just pushes the button for a second, several times. Voila! Works like a charm. Any old blender type gizmo from a garage sale will work. You have to have a light hand or you will have mush.

My mother had the BOP and I sure wish I had dug it up before we sold her house.

This evening, I came across an old Mucuna seed I had and decided to try to dremel it to soak. well, I had to use the grinder. The seedcoat was too thick, Now it is soaking in pure peroxide. Will let you know how it goes.

Mucuna?

I think that is what it was. About the size of a walnut, round & black

Sea beans

Buttoneer, tell me it isn't so. lol. It has been many a moon, you just now refresh some childhood memory I had with the velvetbean plant/vine. If you had some pix I'd like to see them. Thanks.

This is not a terrific picture as it is yellow-looking but the lighting & the background were not the greatest. I nicked it today, soaked it in full-strength peroxide for a couple hours, then put it in warm water. It is already showing signs of swelling.

I assume the vine isn't terribly invasive (?). Imagine the hairry seedpod with its irritant (itching) property causing concern to the gardener(s). On the other hand; if one uses the vines as a hedge to screen out intruders into their property. Did you use glove when handle the seedpod?

Thanks for sharing the pix.

This message was edited Feb 23, 2009 10:23 AM

Angele, I think drying out, then getting wet etc. in our area does the scarifing for us? Looking forward to some shots of that wonderful lot this summer!

well, if you twist my arm I think I could manage a photo or two, lol

consider it twisted! LOL!

No, this seedpod is not hairy nor did it irritate my hands. I think you are talking about the
velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) and this is a Different Mucuna.

Okay, I'm now at ease. lol, I'd love to see the vine when it's up ang going. Thanks for sharing Butoneer.

Angele and cactuspatch, can't wait to see more pix from out west. :-)