I germinated these mimosa seeds mid-June and wanted to share the progress with you guys! They're adorable plants and exciting to grow. I've extracted DMT before but the sources for bark are disappearing and becoming more greedy; I'm afraid nature isn't prepared for mass consumption of her most sacred lifeforms. I know a lot of people here are already well aware of the human impact on these plants. It feels great to be growing your own.
I soaked the seeds for an hour in hot water, then lightly folded them in a damp paper towel in a bowl covered with saran wrap. Had about 75% germination rate with this method after 5 days. I then carefully planted the seedlings in a biodegradable cup with a soil mix of 30% composted manure, 40% backyard topsoil, 30% vermiculite. Two are growing very well, another is half as strong and another is pretty weak.
After a couple weeks I potted the cups into a larger pot so there would be plenty of root space. In the larger pots I just used a store bought potting soil. I initially covered the top with moss, and then overwatered them like a noob. Well it created the perfect environment for fungus and fungus gnats. When it was clear they weren't going away I replaced the top layer of moss with coarse sand. The sand should be a good additive to the soil for mimosas--helps dry out the soil; keeps larva from crawling out and gnats from nesting in the soil. I killed dozens of gnats every day for the past month and eventually draped some yellow sticky rolls across the rim of the pots. That seemed to help a lot, there were hundreds that got stuck to the rolls before I removed them earlier for the pictures. Don't overwater your plants!!! And you won't have to hassle with all that lol.
I have them on a shelf under 6500k fluorescent lighting, where they will stay until they outgrow it. But I plan to keep them indoors because I live in US zone 5a, so outdoor planting isn't an option. It's cute how they close their leaves at night. The stems are developing little bristles and the leaves get 1 more pair each new set, with the latest being quad sets; a wonderful surprise.
Thanks for reading and please feel free to advise me if you have more experience, or ask questions if curious about anything. I read a cool quote here recently that said the best time to plant a tree was 100 years ago, the 2nd best time is now!
