Print

[Neebu]

Hi Community,

I´ve got seeds of Fernandoa adenophylla and Terminalia bellirica and need some advice.
Both are trees from South East Asia.

Here´s some info I gathered about F. adenophylla, unfortunately I couldn´t find any info on the net regarding germination.

Fernandoa adenophylla.

Region:
South-East-Asia and Africa

Use in Folkmedicine:
Massage Oils for muscular tension and pain.
Against constipation, haemorridhs, snake bites, microbial infections, diabetes etc.

Effects:
antinociceptive, muscle relaxant, sedative
Fernandoa adenyphylla contains substances (Peshawaraquinone, Indanone) which probably act on GABA or opioid receptors.

I´m soaking them for 24 hours in a GA3 solution.
Unfortunately I can just use 3 out of 15 seeds, because the rest of them were empty seed hulls.
I have no idea about germination temperature or germination time.


Terminalia bellirica.

Region:
South East Asia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal

Use in Folkmedicine:
laxative, asthma, bronchitis, fever, cough, hepatitis, eye diseases

Effects:
anti-microbial, analgetic, against diarrhea, cancer, diabetes, hypertension
One sources states that the seed kernels are hallucinogenic, and used by the Lodha people for this purpose.

I read that soaking the seeds in cold water for 48 hours results in higher germination rate.
For sure they like it warm for germination, but will 23°C-25°C be enough or should I place them on a heating mat?
Also there is some dried fruitflesh sticking to the seedcoat, which will surely mold, because germination time seems to be some weeks up to months.
Any idea how to get the seeds really clean without harming them?
I could scrape it off with my fingernails, but this is tedious work...

Any advice on these two?
Thanks!

[Neebu]

I don´t think I will have success with the Fernandoa adenophylla seeds 
Yesterday I noticed signs of mold, probably these are old seeds.
I soaked them in a Chinosol solution (acts against mold) though, to give them another chance, and put them back in fresh moist sphagnum moss.

I scraped the remaining fruitflesh off the Terminalia bellirica seeds with a knife and soaked them for another day in cold water.
I treated them as well for 10 mins with a Chinosol solution to prevent mold, since germination can take up to 1-3 months.
I found info on germination temperature for Terminalia bellirica wich should be 20°C-25°C, so current roomtemperature should be just fine.

[Neebu]

Still no germination.

Read at the herbalistics website, that Darren cut the end of his Terminalia ferdinandiana seeds with seceteurs, to expose the inner seed to encourage germination.
Tried that and put them back in a glass of water.
Today, 3 weeks later, I noticed that there are cracks at the end of the seeds, which enabled me to remove parts of the massive seed coat, I hope did not damage the seed.
They have very thick seed coats, no wonder that they can take months to germinate!
Hope this hastens germination a bit.

[Neebu]

The first seed germinated a few days ago.
The second picture was taken today.
I hope the seedlings can make it out of the hard shell on their own.
The other Terminalia bellirica seeds seem to germinate as well, germination rate seems to be 5/5.

I bought some other Fernandoa adenophylla seeds a month ago, just one of ten seeds seems to be viable, but still... nothing is happening.
I don´t know what to do. 

2 Likes ONandONandON and DarkPines like this.

[DarkPines]

Nice!! KEep it up! 

1 Like Neebu likes this.

[Neebu]

Unfortunately 4 of 5 Terminalia bellirica seeds rotted away.

I put the remaining germinated seed (in a pot with cococoir) in my growbox where there is more light and where it´s also a little bit warmer, since the roomtemperature is only 16°C-17°C.
I did not expect to have success, but now it seems that there is some hope.

Picture #1
there is a small root visible, but I thought it would rot.

Picture #2
progress 3 days after first photo was taken.

Picture #3
I put a bit of cococoir aside, to see what´s going on, there is a shoot visible!

I hope it will grow faster once the days get longer/brighter again and more warm.

2 Likes Pollinator and Greenmystery like this.

[Greenmystery]

Hope your lone survivor pulls thru for you and outs out some healthy growth

2 Likes Neebu and Pollinator like this.