Germinating Jubaea

(page 3)

5. Treat as a preventative with a fungicide. Naked endosperms are particularly vulnerable and can rot easily. Place them in a sterile and well drained medium, such as a mix of peat and coarse sand (1:4).

6. Use individual small clay pots rather then a large seed bed. Individual pots prevent rotting seeds from contaminating the other ones. It also prevent roots damage by avoiding early transplantation. Small clay pots will further provide better conditions for the seeding, especially for temperature, humidity and air exchange with the environment.

7. Cover the seeds with just a few millimetres of sand and spray with fungicide as a watering.

8. Place the pots in a saucer and wrap them with a plastic bag to maintain moderate humidity.

9. Put your 'treasure' in a dark warm room (I put mine in the cellar) . To my great astonishment, temperatures ranging from 20° to 25°C appeared to be sufficient, but best results are said to be achieved with 25° to 30°C. Use a bottom heating system if necessary.

10. Open the plastic bag daily to allow fresh air to get in. Spray with fungicide when the humidity seems to reduce. Never allow the medium to be waterlogged or to dry out. Both could mean the death of most seeds. Well! You just have now to be patient and your sleeping Jubaea babies will soon wake up!

Caring for Jubaea seedlings:

11. Remove sprouting pots when the seedling is about one centimetre high. It means that the root has already developed and that the seedling is surely strong enough to enter the second step of its life. . . in full light.

12. The general guideline is now to minimize any stress to the seeding. With your small clay pots, you have no hazardous transplantation to do. Do not overpot the seedings (leave them to rest in peace, for as long as a year?)

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