Wintersweet Germination Instruction
After experimenting with germinating Wintersweet seeds, the best, most reliable method I found was germination through “paper towel method” with seed coat removal (germination rate at >90%). With no seed coat removal and straight planting in soil, germination time significantly increases.
1. Obtain Seeds.
Wintersweet Seed
2. Scarify seed by nicking the seed coat or scrubbing the seed coat with a nail file (just a little so that water can better penetrate through the seed coat); be careful not to damage the white embryo inside, especially near the eye. Soak for at least 36 hours in water (warm water if possible; but not a big deal); if the seed is floating on the water, it is still most likely fine (that does not mean the seed is not viable).Soak for at least 36 hours in water (warm water if possible; but not a big deal); if the seed is floating on the water, it is still most likely fine (that does not mean the seed is not viable).
Scarify by nail file
Scarified by nail cliper (little white spot=clipped through seed coat; but no damage to embryo)
Soak
3. Remove seed coat: do this very carefully, it is easiest to pry open along the central line of the seed. A bit of damage to the embryo is fine, but that is limited to the “seed leaf” section; do NOT damage the “eye” where the tap root will originate (the “eye” is the tiny white dot at the pointy end of the seed-easily seen prior to coat removal).
Peel off Seed Coat
All Seed Coat Remove
4.Remove resilient layer: after removing seed coat there is still a fibrous thin ivory colored skin enveloping the embryo; remove this very carefully.
Remove the resilient layer
After removal of resilient layer
5. Place the “naked” embryo on paper towel in tray.
Placed on paper towel (moist tissue in this case)
6. Cover tray with paper towel; wet the paper towel thoroughly, drain excess water (so that the seed lay in a moist but not soaking environment).
Cover with tissue/paper towel; wet and drain excess water
7. Cover tray with plastic wrap or place tray in a zip-lock bag to maintain humidity and prevent dry-out. Place tray in sheltered bright place, ideally no strong sunlight, by a window is good. Ideal temperature is around 75 degrees Fahrenheit (or room temperature). Too much warmth (ie: outside temperature >85 degrees Fahrenheit) can cause damping-off, rotting.
Place in Zip-Lock for maintaing humidity and moistness
10. Check upon the seeds everyday. It should take around 3 days, but can take up to 2 week; my average has been 3 days.
Tap root emerges; notice the black spots (damage during resilient layer removal)
Good Germination Rate
11. Once tap root emerge, you may plant the seed (vertically, with the tap root end down)in moist soil (Wintersweet is not very picky about soil, good draining soil is best; even the water retaining peat moss is fine for seedling). Cover with a slight layer of soil (2-3mm). Again place in bright light in room temperature. Seedling should start to emerge in 5-10 days. Tip: I like to let the tap root grow out to be at least 5mm before planting in soil; the tap root may start to grow out little “hairs” but that is not root rot, just normal and should not affect seedling survival. Warning: do not over pamper seedling with over-watering. Keep soil moist but not soggy.
Starts to Emerge (you may help remove the shell once the seedling leaf is completely out of the soil)
Emerging
Emerged
- Go to Plant Information to see Wintersweet information.
- Go to Post Category: “Progress Update-Wintersweet” to see the progress of a new batch of seeds.
Seedling (seed leaves)
Seed leaves open
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I started this thread on Gardenweb: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/exseed/msg1222045326282.html?6
and when i was googling wintersweet germination for peeps this week, I ran into your thread.
Just curious where you can get the Yellow wintersweet? They seem more rare.
The seeds I have are from Iran, but seems to look similar colorwise to the purpleheart with the slightly yellow outside colors and slightly brown-purple inside (but seems like less pointy leaves).
Xudong asked the same question, so for convenience, you may check out my answer in the other comment. I hope my answer can be of some help to you.
Thank you,
Ruby
Thank you, ill carry the fruit of your experiments with me ever, it’s a magical flower.
Thank you for this as i bought my wintersweet from ebay but the instructions wasnt as clear and precise as yours ie 1st take the shell off before emerging in water etc. x
oops i meant to say before planting remove the outer layer lol my intital info just said to moist, but in what?? and never meantioned any removal of outer layers. Good Job i checked online 1st =)
My experience is that with seeds that are very very fresh, you don’t have to remove any layer, and if you just soak the seed, and use paper towels it will sprout (you could probably just pop that in the soil and that will probably sprout anyway even without soaking since it is so fresh, though it will probably take a little bit longer).
But if the seeds are not that fresh, nicking the seed, soaking, then removing the outer layer makes the probability of germinating much higher (that doesn’t mean it is fail-proof though…sadly). GOOD LUCK!
Thank you! Please keep me updated on the progress!
Thank you very much. I would never tried your method if I hadn’t read your excellent instructions with good photographs and plenty of tips.
My tree, about 12 years old, produced about 40 capsules this year for the first time. I haven’t collected all the pods but will try planting the seeds straight from the tree as well as removing the outer payers for ones I have been storing for a few weeks.
Hi Sasha, keep me updated on the progress!
This year I collected a lot more seed so I will be propagating more, too and will be able to offer some for sale. The trees that were germinated from seed following your advice are growing well but need quite a lot of watering when young in our hot summers in southern Australia.
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom.
I just tried it now, and the seeding start to come out.
When should I plant them out?
I live in zone 7a, and it’s mid September now.
Thanks!
Lily
I would keep seedling in a pot indoor with you until at least 1 year old. They are still very fragile to the cold at such a young age and I wouldn’t want to risk it as germinating takes a lot of effort as well!
Dear Ruby
Does it matter at which time of the year you start the germination process?
Thank you for sharing your Wintersweet experiences!
Valérie
This method is only good for relatively fresh seeds. Old seeds deteriorate very quickly. And the old seeds do need cold stratification to break the dormancy. If you force the old seeds to sprout, the seeds would just rot. Even with the cold stratification, old seeds still have low germination rate.
Most of the online (eBay, etc) seeds are at least two yard old…..
I totally agree with the above. Even with the seeds I had (which are super fresh as I picked them myself as mentioned in the blog post) in the first month, all I have to do is soak the seed and wait for roots to appear with the papertowel method. In the second month, doing just that has a drastic drop in germination rates, I had to remove the outer shells to maintain as great of a germination rate. Older less fresh seeds most definitely need more care, most likely stratification since these are seeds that in nature has a long winter stratification time. That’s why I stress that my method works best with seeds older than 1 month (since before that it should germinate easily anyway) but less than 6 month seeds.
Thank you Ruby for info. I bought seeds from Amazon, and did step by step as you mentioned. Now they are rooting in paper towel, can’t wait to plant them. I live in Southern California how about our hot summer, my tree will be okay?
Yes! It will be fine! I am unsure if it needs a cool down period to flower though.
Hi Mali, it will most likely be fine. Cali is relatively moist, and wintersweet loves sunshine! My only concern is if winter is cold enough for flowering! It will still probably flower but not as wonderfully as in a place with colder weather! Hope this helps!
Thanks for your picture narration
Hi Ruby, thanks to your clear and detailed instructions and photographs, I have more than a dozen healthy young trees to create a Wintersweet grove and I have given away about the same number to friends. The process is not for the faint hearted but it definitely works and I am very, very happy. Thank you.
So far, so good. Seeds with baby roots potted up
Good luck!
All my seeds sprouted and grew into small plants but took forever to have anything but seed leaves. They still only have one set of true leaves and
it has been two seasons!
hi Ruby, I’ve just collected some seeds in China from the C P Lutea variety direct from the tree. Now i’m back home in Australia. i wonder if it’ll be warm enough now to try to germinate them? it averages 20 degrees celcius here (it’s spring in southern hemisphere of course) . thank you , Peter
Yes, you can definitely try! With fresh seeds, there’s no strict need for temperature (as I also did it in the summer).