More Synandrospadix

From: Dan Levin levin at pixar.com> on 2001.05.30 at 13:32:16(6605) I was also fortunate to receive 3 seeds of Synandrospadix vermitoxicus last November, compliments of the magnanimous Alan Galloway. Having recalled some brief comments Julius Boos posted over a year ago on the germination of this species*, I performed a small experiment: - All 3 seeds were sown into the same well wetted mix; 1 per 4" (10 cm) pot. - All 3 pots were placed atop a gro-mat, thermostat set to 80? F / 23? C. - One pot was covered with an inverted Zip-Loc baggie (not sealed) to maintain moisture/humidity, the other 2 were left exposed- their soil kept "barely damp". - Within 3 weeks, the one covered seed germinated. No activity in the other pots. - After development of the first leaf, I re-soaked all 3 pots then repositioned the baggie onto the adjacent (dormant) potted seed. - Just over 3 weeks later, THAT seed sprouted. And in case you didn't already guess, I later repeated this procedure one last time with the exact same results on the 3rd seed- giving 100% germination. --- Sooo... Notwithstanding Julius' recent comments about delayed germination & survival strategies (which make perfect sense), I'm nonetheless led to believe this species requires constant moisture and heat in order to germinate. Perhaps those lengthy or otherwise erratic results others have experienced can be traced to local environmental conditions finally being "right" (warm + moist) for sufficient time to finally induce germination. Or... perhaps my bouncing baggie game was mere coincidence (?). Next time anyone makes/receives seed of this plant, it would be neat if you could try this for yourself and let us know your results! Respectfully submitted, -Dan Levin +More * ("Synandrospadix success." April 15, 2000)

Note: this is a very old post, so no reply function is available.