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[New Wisdom]

I wanted to talk about the germination of these plants though.  They were probably the easiest seeds I have ever germinated.  Here's how I did it.

Edit: These were the steps that came with the seeds. They worked great for me.

EDIT: Step 1: Make a small nick in the fat end of the seed. (I found that they germ more successfully without nicking)

Step 2: Microwave a cup of water till it's hot.

Step 3: Put the seeds into the water and soak for .5-5 hours or until they swell up

Step 4: Wrap in moist paper towel, then put them into a Tupperware container with the top closed. Check them once a day and keep them moist. You can just put a little bit of water in the container and close it again and it'll usually stay moist. Within a week they will show signs of sprouting. (only 1 day for me)

Step 5: Plant the germinated seeds in a small pot.

Step 6: Place then in pots and put them in a well lit area. You do not want it to be hot though.

So I received seeds from two vendors.  The funny thing is that they look completely different.  One of the packs looks like it has apple seeds in them, and the others look like normal hostilis seeds.  I'll attach the pictures.  They both germinated well and both look the same.

Mine literally germinated in one day and were already growing leaves.  I have them marked so I know which ones came from what set of seeds.  The bigger seeds germinated faster, but the smaller seeds germinated slower.  The green portions looked exactly alike, but they are still very young. 

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[Mandrake]

Thanks for the tips.

In my experience, using hot water is not necessary. I always germinated mine either by leaving them inside of a container with clean spring water after nicking them, or as you mention between moist paper towels.

Step 5: Plant the germinated seeds in a small pot filled with perlite, grit or any non-organic soil. (I used perlite and vermiculite 30/70)

Organic soil works fine too. Just make sure it has some drainage, it's better to use some coco coir or perlite in addition to the compost, but the first time I germinated M. tenuiflora I used jiffy peat pellets -which get pretty dense when hydrated- and they did sprout, although germination rate was lower.

Mimosa hostilis is native to rain forests, so they prefer a more humid filtered light over direct hot sunlight

With that I disagree. Mimosa tenuiflora (and I keep on calling it Tenuiflora because, besides being more extended in taxonomical references, it also compensates a little the excess of attention the species has received under the M. Hostilis name) thrives well in semi-arid ecosystems like the brazilian caatinga. It does grow in more humid forests for instance in Chiapas, southern Mexico, but it's a species particularly resistant to drought stress and it does enjoy full sun once it goes past the seedling stage. What's more, direct sunlight will largely speed up its growth. It's definitely not a rainforest species.

In the seedling stage, high temperatures or drought can be dangerous because there is notable risk of dehydration, but in my experience a two month old Tenuiflora (and probably younger, but I haven't tried myself) is perfectly able to deal with direct sunlight as long as the soil does not get too dry, for too long.

So I received seeds from two vendors.  The funny thing is that they look completely different.  One of the packs looks like it has apple seeds in them, and the others look like normal hostilis seeds.  I'll attach the pictures.  They both germinated well and both look the same.

Mine literally germinated in one day and were already growing leaves.  I have them marked so I know which ones came from what set of seeds.  The bigger seeds germinated faster, but the smaller seeds germinated slower.  The green portions looked exactly alike, but they are still very young.

As mentioned in another thread, and as you probably know by now, the larger seeds are not Mimosa tenuiflora. The leaves of Albizia are also pinnate, but slightly larger and more spread, and the tips are pointy when compared to m. tenuiflora. Plus the cotyledons are larger in Albizia, which is expected considering the size of the seed itself.

And one observation: if you want a reference of how an early seedling of tenuiflora looks like, take a look at the STS Home page. The little seedling growing in soil that appears in one of the four-picture slideshow is Mimosa Tenuiflora/Hostilis 

Good luck with the babies,

Mandrake

[New Wisdom]

Thanks so much! These are the instructions that came on the bag. Lol. I'm excited to see  what those bigger seeds are. Although I wish they were hostilis, 

I'll post some pictures when they get older. Thanks for the information my friend.

[Mandrake]

These are the instructions that came on the bag. Lol.

Cool, thanks for sharing - although I'd personally avoid posting information in first person if the information is not checked personally by yourself... we're all entitled to post inaccurate information by mistake, but let's make sure we write our own inaccuracies - not anyone else's 

You maybe should edit the first post and add this warning so no one takes the information as your own experience.

Thanks!

Mandrake

[New Wisdom]

Well, I did do this with them and they all germinated. 

[Mandrake]

I agree that these germination guidelines will work. I meant there are some statements that are not correct, and the way it's posted looks like they are your claims, for instance:

- They have to be germinated in non-organic soil (not true, you can use either organic or non-organic as long as it has good drainage)
- Mimosa Hostilis is native to rainforests (not true)
- The plant only tolerates filtered, diffuse light when growing (not true)

All I was suggesting is for you to add a note that these statements are not yours but someone else's, so you don't take bad credit for them personally in the eyes of anyone reading your first post. But of course it was only a suggestion.

Regards,

Mandrake

[New Wisdom]

I took those parts off. I'll keep that in mind, my bad.   

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[TheGreenMan]

Hey those big seeds look identical to Albizzia julibrissin seeds that I have. The two plants look really similar, the difference being thorns on the M. tenuiflora as well as Albizzia has pink pompom flowers whereas Mimosa has long bunches of white flowers. But I imagine the seedlings would look almost identical, my albizzia seedling at 2-3 months old looks alot like a Mimosa seedling.

And A. julibrissin (as well as some other albizia that look similar) is commonly referred to as "mimosa tree" even though the two are not closely related. I think the one vendor either didn't know the difference or is faking.

Thanks for the info too!

[New Wisdom]

They look about the same, but they grow way faster. It's pretty easy to tell the difference for me. For 1, because I know which ones aren't hostilis, and 2, they have different leaf shapes.

[Cane Blossom]

just did a batch of mimosa hostilis.
i didn't nick/scarify a single one, but  with the hot water soak i had almost 100% germination rate (these are some fairly old seeds - at least a year old in my possession - probably more - who knows how old before i got them)

tried without the hot water tek and only one of them got swollen.

after 3 days i just took the unswollen seeds, did a hot water tek on them, and they too have swollen (presumably only a matter of time before they germinate).

so the hot water tek may not be necessary, but it certainly seems to help ime.

i have had bad luck with scarification/nicking (wasted many ololiuqui seeds) so i tend to avoid it.  perhaps if one did use scarification hot water would be superfluous.


http://worldseedsupply.org/blog/?p=163

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[New Wisdom]

Yeah, I stopped nicking them.  I just soak in hot water and leave them for a day then transfer to wet paper towel. I've been getting very good germ rates.

[olyd88]

Yeah, I stopped nicking them.  I just soak in hot water and leave them for a day then transfer to wet paper towel. I've been getting very good germ rates.

Guess i should try to soak them without nicking. I nicked my Mimosa seeds before, soaked in hot water but i only got 3/10 success. But now, all of it has died, i'm sure the humidity and dry air killed them.

[Mandrake]

I'm copying here a fragment of this thread posted in the dmt-nexus, about germination of Mimosa Tenuiflora/Hostilis.

The seeds of black jurema are tough and hardy, with a barely permeable coat. Growing in climates with seasonal rains, where the humidity levels change substantially during the year, the plant adapts by producing dormant seeds - able to survive long, dry periods without losing much viability. Also, MT is a glycophyte – it does not like high concentrations of salt in water.

In the wild, seeds are fully ripe and start to get dispersed by the end of the dry season, and seedlings start to appear in the beginning of the rainy season. However, the seeds that germinate are mainly the old ones, since breaking their dormancy takes time in their natural habitat.

According to germination studies with seeds collected in Chiapas, México, the best results are obtained in temperatures between 20-25ºC. Coat scarification, either mechanical or acidic, returned faster germination and higher germination rates, reaching as high as 95,55%. Light has no effect in germination. The study was performed with four year old seeds, so they can be stored for long periods of time.

A simple and effective method for germination involves nicking them lightly in a side and either give them a soak in warm water or placing them between moist paper towels or filter paper in a warm environment. Under optimal conditions, germination is very fast and takes between 1 and 4 days. As soon as the radicle (the germinal root) is visibly out, it can be planted a few millimeters into well draining soil.

Seedlings of MT also grow fast, 2-5 mm per day, and can be established either outdoors in the proper season or indoors in an artificial environment. When growing outdoors, MT likes open and ventilated spaces, sunlight and soils with medium to low moisture. The axon-like root system develops fast and is soon able to absorb water deep below the soil surface, so black jurema will appreciate having plenty of space for roots, and enough time between waterings to allow the superficial soil to dry and hence stimulate root growth.

So nicking may not be necessary, but research done with old seeds showed faster and slightly higher germination rates. I will try to find the reference paper to post it in this thread.

Best wishes,

Mandrake

[New Wisdom]

Thanks. I actually found that they have less problems and higher germ rates without the nicking.   I edited the post to reflect.

Thanks

[Mandrake]

Thanks. I actually found that they have less problems and higher germ rates without the nicking.   I edited the post to reflect.

The risk when nicking may be hurting the internal seed tissue, so unless you are doing it quite carefully (or you use other less aggressive means of scarification) some of the seeds might be damaged and of course that will affect negatively germination rates.

Nicking does seem to speed up germination, and apparently improves germ rates in older, tougher seeds, but it does not seem to be necessary. Actually the first time I germinated tenuiflora I did not nick the seeds and obtained good results... but again, I also obtained good results by nicking them, so I guess it's gardener's choice.

Cheers,

Mandrake