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In january 2004 ,I received a gift from Gran Canaria . Some soil and 8 seeds Sterlitzia Reginae.
I planted 4 seeds in one pot and 4 one's in another pot.
In the first one I took the orange plums of the seeds ,in the second I didn't.I put them with a plastic cover on the heating-radiators. So the soil temperature is constantly between 15°(night) and 30°(during day)
Now after two months on (+-10 weeks) in the pot I planted the seeds without taken of the plums , two seeds came out and are growing now. In the second one I took of the plums, nothing is coming out. Still both pottery's are in the same condition.
So my conclusion is, do not take of the plums and plant them in good wet warm soil ,after 10 weeks you will have some plants.
Taken of the plums you damage the shield around the seeds and they can rotten.
Removing the orange tuft (which is an aril) aids germination and prevents you having to nick the seeds especially when they aren't fresh as mine aren't.
Your experience goes to prove that some things work differently for different people, I suspect you have fresh seed. As they can take some months to germinate, I'm sure your other seeds will pop up soon enough :)
My little seedling, now a little over a year old, has about 4 leaves. It's not very tall - like maybe 4-5 inches. But it's doing great. It lives outside full-time, in a pot that's about 10-12".
I did start it in sand, then once the seedling sprouted, moved it into a sandy soil mix. Now that it's past the point of concern (damping off), it's in my regular garden soil.
It's not exactly running races, but I'm pleased with it - it's doing great. I figure it will probably flower before I'm 50. (I'm almost 40 now.)
I bought the seeds I started. There are small, young plants on eBay right now - reasonable. In 6" pots or something like that.
The trick seems to be that these guys rot as often as not - so I germinated them in pure horticultural grade sand. Half bury the seed. As soon as you see activity on the top, plop it out into a sandy mix of soil and keep the air flowing.
Unlike Gardenias and Japanese Maple, which I gave up on, these weren't so bad. Now it's just a 4-8 year wait for a bloom! :o)
