How to Handle Berries of Pearl Anthurium

From: George Yao gcyao at netasia.net> on 2000.01.14 at 15:45:01(3999) Hi everyone, Sorry if you have received this message already, but after I sent it, I did not see it sent back to me in the list, so I am resending it here. I was just given some fresh berries of the Pearl Anthurium. Each berry has 3 to 5 small cream colored seeds which can be seen through the translucent skin and pulp. I found one of them had been squeezed while inside the paper bag, and the seeds that were squeezed out were enmeshed in a sticky jelly. I want to try to germinate the seeds. What is the best way to clean them and what is the best procedure to germinate them? George Yao +More Metro-Manila, Philippines

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 2000.01.17 at 03:15:02(4002) Warning Could not process message with given Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="Listproc-outter-1739"

From: rharias at juno.com on 2000.01.20 at 15:57:53(4013) George, Sorry for taking so long to get your message, I've been away. I've grown "Pearl Anthurium", Anthurium scandens, from seed many times with great success. But let me warn you up front, the plants grow fairly slow and may take as many as three to four years before you will see the formation of berries on your seedlings. First, the seeds of this plant will stay viable for weeks if not removed from the fruit. I have planted seeds that were removed from the parent for at least two weeks, with almost 100% viability. The sticky "jelly" need not be removed from the seeds, it seems that it is neither an asset nor a hinderance to germination. The seeds will germinate quickly (less then 4 weeks). I like to use a cell tray that holds many little cells in one pack. I also like to use Fafard #2 soil (a commercial soil that is very light weight yet retains a high moisture level once wet) as my medium for anthuriums. Don't forget to water the soil before and after planting. The seeds of most anthuriums, in the wild, just grow where they fall, on the surface of some substrate. Hence the idea of sowing the seeds on the surface of the soil. But I have found that if you plant the seeds on the surface of the soil they will develop what reminds one of prop-roots. This works out well for anthuriums in the wild where leaf litter is constantly falling. But I have found, through experimentation, that if the seeds are covered with about an 8th of an inch of soil the roots will not push the entire plant into the air. The roots will grow downward and develop a strong system. So plant them a little below the surface, they will do better. For A. scandens, I like to plant 5 or so seeds together. The plants, when planted together, seem to ward off fungi that a single seedling seems not to be able to defend against. The only down side to planting seeds together in small cells is that they run out of nutriment very quickly. So once the majority of the seeds have sprouted you should start to fertilize right away. After the seed are planted, the tray is covered and the waiting begins. Once the seeds are up, write again and I'll try to help you along the way. Good Luck! Robert Arias +More Tampa, FL ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

From: George Yao gcyao at netasia.net> on 2000.02.06 at 17:37:04(4061) Hi Robert and everyone, It's my turn to be sorry for the delay. I had just finished wrapping up a garden show and had to catch up on so many things that it's only now that I can catch up on my email. Thanks to all those who responded to my request for help: Dr. Tom Croat, Harry Graham, Michael Pascall, Tsuh Yang Chen, Julius Boos, and, of course, Robert Arias. Since I did not have much time to do things right, I just sprinkled the cleaned seeds on a piece of moist tissue paper placed inside a transluscent plastic lunch box. They germinated within the week. I didn't count, but it looks like almost 100% germinated. Now they are about 1/2" high. I'm wondering when I should transplant them and/or feed them. I took a couple of digital photos but I don't know where to put them up for this list. If anyone can tell me how, I will be glad to show the pictures. George Yao +More Metro-Manila, Philippines At 09:57 AM 01/20/2000 -0600, you wrote: >George, > Sorry for taking so long to get your message, I've been away. > I've grown "Pearl Anthurium", Anthurium scandens, from seed many >times with great success. But let me warn you up front, the plants grow >fairly slow and may take as many as three to four years before you will >see the formation of berries on your seedlings. > First, the seeds of this plant will stay viable for weeks if not >removed from the fruit. I have planted seeds that were removed from the >parent for at least two weeks, with almost 100% viability. > The sticky "jelly" need not be removed from the seeds, it seems >that it is neither an asset nor a hinderance to germination. > The seeds will germinate quickly (less then 4 weeks). > I like to use a cell tray that holds many little cells in one >pack. I also like to use Fafard #2 soil (a commercial soil that is very >light weight yet retains a high moisture level once wet) as my medium for >anthuriums. Don't forget to water the soil before and after planting. > The seeds of most anthuriums, in the wild, just grow where they >fall, on the surface of some substrate. Hence the idea of sowing the >seeds on the surface of the soil. But I have found that if you plant the >seeds on the surface of the soil they will develop what reminds one of >prop-roots. This works out well for anthuriums in the wild where leaf >litter is constantly falling. But I have found, through experimentation, >that if the seeds are covered with about an 8th of an inch of soil the >roots will not push the entire plant into the air. The roots will grow >downward and develop a strong system. So plant them a little below the >surface, they will do better. > For A. scandens, I like to plant 5 or so seeds together. The >plants, when planted together, seem to ward off fungi that a single >seedling seems not to be able to defend against. The only down side to >planting seeds together in small cells is that they run out of nutriment >very quickly. So once the majority of the seeds have sprouted you should >start to fertilize right away. After the seed are planted, the tray is >covered and the waiting begins. > Once the seeds are up, write again and I'll try to help you along >the way. > Good Luck! > >Robert Arias >Tampa, FL

From: rharias at juno.com on 2000.02.08 at 15:11:17(4072) George, I have germinated anthuriums on tissue paper before. The ones I have tried, have germinated with great success. But, there seemed to have been a slight problem when time came to plant the seedlings out. They stick to the paper! My solution was to cut the paper into small pieces and plant the seedlings, paper and all. I would recommend that you plant them in a sterilized medium as soon as possible. Plant them up to where the stem and root meets. This is usually very discernable because the root is usually fatter then the stem. Once the seeds are planted, and have been covered for about two weeks, start "feeding" them with a week, general purpose liquid fertilizer. Good growing. Robert Arias +More Tampa FL. ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.

From: George Yao gcyao at netasia.net> on 2000.02.10 at 16:30:55(4087) Robert, Thank you very much. I will try what you suggest and hope that I get it right. The thinner stem comes up perpendicular to the fat root. George Yao +More Metro-Manila, Philippines At 09:11 AM 02/08/2000 -0600, you wrote: >George, > I have germinated anthuriums on tissue paper before. The ones I have >tried, have germinated with great success. But, there seemed to have been >a slight problem when time came to plant the seedlings out. They stick to >the paper! My solution was to cut the paper into small pieces and plant >the seedlings, paper and all. > I would recommend that you plant them in a sterilized medium as soon as >possible. Plant them up to where the stem and root meets. This is usually >very discernable because the root is usually fatter then the stem. > Once the seeds are planted, and have been covered for about two weeks, >start "feeding" them with a week, general purpose liquid fertilizer. > Good growing. > >Robert Arias >Tampa FL.

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