Re: Germinating Leucospermum patersonii

as for many proteaceae, these seeds need smoke to germinate.
You can buy "smoke primer papers" at
http://www.b-and-t-world-seeds.com/cart.asp?searchfor=Smoke+Primer+Papers
or : National Botanical Garden Kirstenbosch, Private Bag X7, Claremont 7735, South Africa 

 or replicate a small fire (with some safety rules, of course) of small branches you got : pine needles is a good material too.You have to place the seed pans in plastic bag and then dispatch big clouds of the smoke inside the plastic bag and cealed it, let it all night long. the morning after, just water the seed pan with non alkaline water. If you can have the machine used by the bee keepers to smoke out the bees it is much easier and safer.

Chantal Guiraud (I'm running the seedlist for the MGS web site)
Montpellier (France)


"I have some seeds collected from Leucospermum patersonii that are now
dessicated corpses (they got frozen out in that cold snap in January).
I have not been able to find good, easy information on what it takes
to get them to germinate (I keep coming across academic papers). Does
anyone have good information about germinating seeds of this plant? I
could easily buy more flowering size plants, but I'd love to see if
these seeds are viable."


Thank you

Barry Garcia
Sunset zone 16
USDA zone 9a
Sandy soil
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index