Greetings from Smoke Tree Manor!
Some of you may remember from a previous post, that we are attempting to grow California Smoke Trees from seeds obtained from the Theodore Payne Foundation. I am pleased to report that we have successfully sprouted those very same seeds in starter pots soaking in the sunlight on the western exposure of the house.
Matthew is gently watering and babying these along and now comes the time, soon at least, to decide how to proceed.
Because we have seven total pots, and each pot has between 4 and 6 seeds, we have some options.
We can let some of the seedlings get bigger in the peat pots and we will need to thin some of the seedlings down to one per pot to increase viability of the remaining seedlings.
We may also move some of the small starter pots into much larger pots to continue the growth and to continue to be able to baby these along.
We may also go ahead and put a couple of the seedlings in the ground, pot and all, immediately, forgoing the baby steps, because, in the “real world” California Smoke Trees grow when a seed tumbles down a wash, getting scraped up by the rocks (this “scarification” is very common in horticulture and is commonly done with very tough seeds along with presoaking to soften the seed shell to improve germination. A common seed for which this practice is often used is the sweet pea [Lathyrus odoratus]), then settling into loose soil, usually under a rock or under gravel, and then sprouting to send down a VERY long taproot before any recognizable growth begins on the surface.
We have already given our seeds a huge head-start and we will try various methods with the hope of being successful at least once or twice. Progress notes will be maintained right here on SmokeTreeManor.com