Success! Canavalia Rosea germinated

When my husband & I drove to Florida in 2005, a very dear friend took us to an area where I could gather some Canavalia Rosea (Beach Beans) which I did. I have been trying for the past four years to germinate them & I nick & soak them overnight in warm water, then plant them, and they mold. This year, I took some drastic steps and soaked them in warm water, changing the water four times a day, to make sure the water stayed warm & get rid of any mold that might be forming. Then, I put the beans in moist not soaking wet, paper towels & put them in a ziploc bag. Within several days, the beans started producing a root, which I dipped in rooting hormone to stimulate more roots, and I planted them when the roots got larger. In the daytime when the sun is out, I put them in the greenhouse and at night, I bring them into the house to keep them warm. Here are some pix of the beans. The huge seed in the middle is a humongous purse bean which I bought at a sea shell shop in Delaware in 2006. It has a root, but has not yet started producing leaves.

WOW - congratulations! Keep us posted as it grows and blooms.

Thank you Kay. Have you ever propagated them before? What other tropical seeds have you germinated? I also have Pride of Barbados, Sesbania punicea, Delaware beach peas and a humongous purse bean that have rooted. The only one not to have leaves as yet is the purse bean. I also have a mucuna pruriens and the huge mucuna with the jade green leaves that have produced roots, but no leaves as yet. I have a greenhouse, which we keep at 60 degrees, which is too cool for these guys and that is why I take them into the house at night.

I haven't germinated any of the ones you mentioned. If I could find a source to obtain them, I would definently try - any ideas where I can buy these seeds?

I can send you a couple. What do you have to swap?

I just sent my list to you via dmail.

Congratulations also.It is so fulfilling when you have a success with so many trials before. Gardening is such a rewarding hobby, isn't it.
What do these things turn into? I remember reading about them once in the past here.
Keep us posted with "baby" pictures as they mature.

Ok, I sure will. I'll send pix from time-to-time.
Here's the link to it on plantfiles:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62533/

Here is the latest picture taken today (3/29/09)
I like the idea of putting text in a photo. Saves me from trying to remember what is what.

This message was edited Mar 29, 2009 9:56 AM

Here are some other seedlings I germinated using my method.

How do you insert text with the photo? I like that, too.
Beautiful seedlings!

Inserting text onto a photo:
If you have a photo program, such as Adobe Photodeluxe version 1.0, which I have, when you pull your photo from your file & are ready to edit it, there is a letter "T" on the the toolbar (which stands for text). Whenever you click on it, a box comes up, into which you type what you want. You can change the color and the style of the fonts. Then that text box is inserted in the center of your picture. You can drag it anywhere you want & click on the corners & drag to increase or decrease height & width. I use the line tool to make the arrows. Hope that helps. I like inserting text because it helps to identify what you are showing.

In the photo above with C. rosea, I forgot to label the Mucuna pruriens that is coming up. See below:

The plants look really healthy, I'll have to take a look at plantfiles and see what the mature plant looks like.