Failed Acacia Germination?

[IKilledSanta]

I got my hands on some Acacia seeds and I tried growing them in paper cups indoor.
The mixture in a standard potting mix.
They have a false bottom for drainage. I just added some small rocks inside the cup.

I soaked the seeds in warm water for 24 hours and them placed them in a wet soil.
I kept the soil wet for a month, but nothing is growing yet.
Any chance that they all failed?

Every cup has about 3-5 seeds of each type.
From left to right:
- Acacia Belandieri
- Acacia Farnesiana
- Acacia Melanoxylon
- Acacia Sieberian





What should I do now? wait? change something?

 

[Transform]

Take a proper look at the acacia grow thread:

Botany - The Acacia Grow Thread

Propagation of Acacias This thread is a dedicated space in which nexians are welcome to post their progress/knowledge in propagating acacia. Share techniques, grow logs, media, failures/successes, seed sourcing/collecting and any other propagation related info here. I'd love to see what members...

forum.dmt-nexus.me

All the tips I'll mention came from there.

• Perlite/coir/coarse sand - NOT straight potting compost
• Scarify* seeds first of all before you:
• Soak them then:
• Check for swelling
• Germinate swollen seeds in the dark, with a moist paper tissue
• Check regularly for sprouting
• Keep moist but not wet
• Keep warm but not hot
• Ensure a bit of ventilation, e.g. thick dark cloth covering
• Plant sprouted seeds ever so gently into the proper seed compost mix (the one at the top, proportions are in the grow thread)
• Seed which don't swell can be soaked again
• Pay careful attention to the scarifying - it's worth doing that bit right

 

[IKilledSanta]

Take a proper look at the acacia grow thread:

Botany - The Acacia Grow Thread

Propagation of Acacias This thread is a dedicated space in which nexians are welcome to post their progress/knowledge in propagating acacia. Share techniques, grow logs, media, failures/successes, seed sourcing/collecting and any other propagation related info here. I'd love to see what members...

forum.dmt-nexus.me

All the tips I'll mention came from there.

• Perlite/coir/coarse sand - NOT straight potting compost
• Scarify* seeds first of all before you:
• Soak them then:
• Check for swelling
• Germinate swollen seeds in the dark, with a moist paper tissue
• Check regularly for sprouting
• Keep moist but not wet
• Keep warm but not hot
• Ensure a bit of ventilation, e.g. thick dark cloth covering
• Plant sprouted seeds ever so gently into the proper seed compost mix (the one at the top, proportions are in the grow thread)
• Seed which don't swell can be soaked again
• Pay careful attention to the scarifying - it's worth doing that bit right

Oh thanks!
I missed this thread when searching in the forum.

In my situation, is it worth taking them out of the soil and start the process again?

 

[Transform]

Oh thanks!
I missed this thread when searching in the forum.

In my situation, is it worth taking them out of the soil and start the process again?

Yes/maybe - with a number of caveats. What did you do - exactly - when planting your seeds? Did you use any of the mentioned techniques?

Have a think how easy (or difficult) it may be to find the seeds amond the compost. If there's any chance they may have begun sprouting you might be better off leaving them alone. You'll want to take extreme care to avoid damaging any baby taproots.

 

[IKilledSanta]

Yes/maybe - with a number of caveats. What did you do - exactly - when planting your seeds? Did you use any of the mentioned techniques?

Have a think how easy (or difficult) it may be to find the seeds amond the compost. If there's any chance they may have begun sprouting you might be better off leaving them alone. You'll want to take extreme care to avoid damaging any baby taproots.

Soaked the seeds in warm water for 24 hours.
Haven't seen any swelling tho.
Then straight to the wet soil.

I guess I'll carefully take them out and start over. They were hard to get, so I don't want to mess them up

 

[acacian]

You want the seeds to swell before planting.. it isn't neccesarily essential but far more reliable. BUT.. technically just a few minutes in boiling water can damage the coat enough for it to come out of dormancy and slowly absorb the moisture in the soil. But it needs to be boiling.

We actually do it this way at work because we don't have time to make sure every single seed swells.. after 10 mins in boiling water we dry them and mix diatomaceous earth through them and direct sow. When dealing with thousands of seed this is fine and they do usually come up.. but for personal use or even small to moderate size greenhouses your better off taking the time to make sure they all swell as your germ rates will be much better.

Boiling water is much better than warm water.. remember in their natural environment they need their coats damaged.. warm water is unlikely to do this unless over a very very long time.

 

[IKilledSanta]

You want the seeds to swell before planting.. it isn't neccesarily essential but far more reliable. BUT.. technically just a few minutes in boiling water can damage the coat enough for it to come out of dormancy and slowly absorb the moisture in the soil. But it needs to be boiling.

We actually do it this way at work because we don't have time to make sure every single seed swells.. after 10 mins in boiling water we dry them and mix diatomaceous earth through them and direct sow. When dealing with thousands of seed this is fine and they do usually come up.. but for personal use or even small to moderate size greenhouses your better off taking the time to make sure they all swell as your germ rates will be much better.

Boiling water is much better than warm water.. remember in their natural environment they need their coats damaged.. warm water is unlikely to do this unless over a very very long time.

Thanks.
You mentioned that the coat is damaged in the natural environment. How come?
What is the process we try to mimic by using the boiling water here?

 

[acacian]

Thanks.
You mentioned that the coat is damaged in the natural environment. How come?
What is the process we try to mimic by using the boiling water here?

Bush fire.. but they germinate in lots of places where bushfires don’t occur. In those cases they probably become slowly corroded by things rubbing up against them in the soil and then being rained on.