I have 2 seeds. They are quite large. I am attempting to germinate one of them. If you have successfully germinated these seeds, please give me some pointers.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60824/
Has anyone tried to germinate Climbing Ylang Ylang seeds
I haven't germinated the seeds, although mine has flowered before and set seed. I am certain this would be very easy to root. I had to top mine last season, it hit the roof and was bending over. The flowers were way up past 12 feet, you could barely see them.I lopped off a full 6 ft and its already almost grown back.
Just a tip...this is not a "climbing" plant as you have been led to believe. It is NOT vining or anything like that. I have both this, and the regular Cananga odorata (the "true" Ylang Ylang tree) as well as the Dwarf variety.
The Artobotrys is exactlly the same thing as the regular Cananga, except its more "shrub" than "tree". It has a soft more succulent stem, kind of like brugmansia, rather than a "tree trunk". It is a single trunk, just like the regular Ylang Ylang. But the leaves are slightly different.
I have absolutely NO IDEA why this is referred to as "climbing Ylang Ylang".
If I am not mistaken, the one that kind of vines is the Desmos chinensis.
Well, I soaked it for a day and I put it in a styrefoam cup with some dirt tonight. Will see ....
If you should ever feel the need to chop off some of your limb, just sent them my way. :) Thanks for letting me know they are not "climbers".
Artabotrys hexapetalus is definitely a climber. If it isn't getting enough light, it will go looking for it. The plant below is about 15 ft. up in a Theobroma cacao tree.
They are easily maintained as a bush by trimming it!
I would say that this is a shrubby climber. It's growth habit is best compared to a bougainvillea and I can see it's potential to be trained into a standard form, but not at the heights that a mature Cananga odorata, a true tree will obtain.
I think it differs quite a bit from Cananga, particularly in the flower. The flower is smaller, more greenish yellow, thicker and smells different than a true ylang ylang. Artabotryus also will form thorn-like protuberances off the stem.
This germinates very well- even if stored for a while. I have gotten 100% germination from clean seed and even the ones with fruit on them fall to the ground and pop up in the dozens from our mature plant.
This plant is also pretty tough and tolerates dry conditions and neglect well although slow to start when young.
Here are the thorns; they become blunt as they mature.
This is the coiled hook which the plant uses to climb with.
My plant has neither of these things, not that I have noticed anyway. I cut it from 20 ft tall down to about 4-5 ft and it is already back up to about 8-10 ft. I will look at it closely to see if I can see these appendages. As far as I can tell, mine grows like a shrub or tree, freestanding
Hi Gothqueen, the thorn-like growths come out with the leaves and are soft then gets hard as the leaves fall off, they are on the lower part of the plant. Further up the plant makes branches. My plant has the coiled hooks only on branches that are high up on the bush.
I think mine may just be a bit smaller than yours, LOL. I have to keep it cut back to fit the space. It has bloomed though.
I am going to bonsai mine.
oooh! that sounds cool. I could not get my seeds to germinate. oh well. may be they will come later as a surprise. I recycled my dirt...
Did you knick the seeds??? I would have taken a dremel tool and sanded them down to where a could see just a little green or white (actual seed not husk). Then put them in H2O2 over night. It's tropical so I would say you need at least 75-80 degrees F to get them to germinate. Also if you just bury the seed it won't get light and it probably needs some light as most seeds do. You would have been better off putting the seeds on a wet paper towel in a plastic bag in a warm 75 degree or so place. Seeds probably aren't shot yet and you can try again to germinate them.
If you try again drop me a D-mail.
interesting information....thanks.
ALL seeds need light? Or just tropicals?
I did soak the seeds but I don't remember if I knicked it. I usually do with the hard seeds. I think I have one more seed so I will try again. I also usually do that coffee filter method to try to get my seeds to germinate and I get about 90% success.
Hmmm, that's puzzling...how can a seed planted in the dirt need light to germinate?
To assure germination, I usually germinate mine in the coffee filter method under the kitchen puck lights. I get a good 90% germination this way.
Gothqueen, how can Cananga and Artabotrytis be exactly the same when they are totally different genera? They grow differently, and are totally different.
Carol, I meant that that look exactly the same. NOT that they ARE the same plant. Let me explain that...at least MINE do. They both have a single central stem (In my A, hex its a fleshier stem, with smoother outer surface, in my C od its an actual tree trunk looking stem, harder with a rougher covering) They both have kinda sparse radiating branches that are largest at the base and get radially smaller as they go to the crown (they remind me of those Christmas trees that have lots of space between the branches) and they both have pretty much the same shaped leaves. Both have "brittle stems", easily breakable, easily pruned. Both can be basically cut in half and they will regrow. However, the main difference I see in mine is, the A Hex grows much much faster after pruning back than the Ylang, and it flowers at a much smaller size.
I had a friend from South FL come up once and enter my GH and see the A. hex and say "That looks just like an Ylang Ylang but I can tell its slightly different, what is it?"
Plants seeking light = Phototropism!
What I said was in general. Many seeds by nature end up falling into leaves or some sort of debris so they get moister and filtered light. All seeds will grow towards the light BTW. A good example is a sago palm seed. To germinate you have to leave the upper side uncovered in filtered light or you won't get that to germinate. Can't bury it.
How can you tell the difference between the King and the Queen Sago Palm. I collected some seeds recently at the beach.
Queen Sago is Cycas circinalis.
King Sago is Cycas revoluta.
Queen Sago has longer wider leaflets, and gets to be a much larger plant.
King Sago has shorter thinner leaflets, and is a smaller plant.
They are both Cycads not Palms.
Will both produce seeds?
On the queen and king sago, they both produce seeds and they are both big and round. If you mixed the seeds up in a bag I doubt you could tell the difference if you had never seen either before.
I never nicked the Artobotryus seeds, but I do believe temperature may be a factor and they probably took a little bit of time. I have so many seedlings, I don't know what to do with them all! So, if all else fails, maybe we can trade later on. :-)
I have germinated a King Sago palm seed successfully. The reason I was asking is because I collected some seeds recently and I didn't know if they were Queen Sago or King Sago. It's like an addiction, I KNOW that I don't need anymore tropicals yet I still collected the seeds! LOL! I only took 3 though. I have a few King Sago palm seeds left too. Haven't done anything to them because I just don't need anymore plants that I need to drag into the house.
Last year, I received some King Sago Palm seeds and I just wanted to see if I could get one to germinate. I soaked it for about a week, then I stuck a small utility knife and slit it open a little bit and planted the seed where 1/3 of it was on top. I did it in a styrefoam bowl with drainage hole. Stuck it outside with my Night Blooking Cereus and completely forgot about. I didn't really expect anything to happen to it. But I came home from the cruise in July and saw palm leaves - I couldn't believe it! I need to transplant it to a larger container this year. Honestly, I can probably buy on at Home Depot for less than $10. But the challenge for me was to get the seeds to germinate.
Sorry not trying to change the subject. I'm still trying to get those Ylang Ylang seed to germinate. I have one left, so I'm going to try it again.... Wish me luck 'cause it's my LAST seed... :(
King Sago seeds need to be fresh. They have very little shelf life. Not sure if that's true with the queens.
Cycas is one of the Genera in which the seeds need a developmental period after they are shed from the plant. They need to sit for a few months while the embryo matures and the seed is ready to germinate. The same is true for Dioon, Encephalartos, and Lepidozamia.
Microcycas, Stangeria, and some Zamias often have fully developed embryos when they are shed and need to be planted right away.
Microcycas seeds have been known to germinate while they are still in the cone.
Honestly, you probably don't want to know this but I harvested King Sago seeds last year and the squirrels dug them all up and particially ate them. I left them for dead. Guess what- they still sprouted.
Good luck with your one seed, Lilli!