Re: Ipomea alba

GILL POUND wrote:
Does anyone have any tips on germinating Ipomea alba seeds? I've raised all the other Ipomeas I've tried without difficulty but find I alba very difficult. Have tried filing the seeds, soaking them for various periods of time, keeping them in a mini greenhouse with undersoil heating ... and combinations of these. All tips gratefully received!
Gill
Possible things to try.

Soaking in hot or even boiling water.
Soaking in acid. I remember at the Kenya labs where I once worked, immediate 100% germination was (unintentionally) achieved with Datura stramonium seed after soaking in dilute sulphuric acid.

One other aspect which may need to be considered is physiological ripeness. If the seed is very fresh for instance it may not yet be mature. Simply sowing it and leaving the pots alone be might eventually result in germination. I used to grow a lot of alpines for instance and many of these would not germinate for a year or more no matter how treated. I remember topping the pots with gravel to prevent weed and moss developing menwhile.

Conversely though it might not be fresh enough. Some seeds do not stay viable long.

By the way I am not quite sure what you mean By Ipoemoea alba. Alba is presumably a varietal name for the white form of some normally coloured species.

Moira
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Tony & Moira Ryan,
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