Hi Sharon and all,

I don't know about 'Gold Star' in particular, but I've grown a lot of Tecoma stans plants from seed. I don't do anything special with it. I just plant it indoors in potting soil, water it well, let it drain overnight and then I put it in a ziploc bag in bright indirect light until they sprout, then I s-l-o-w-l-y open the plastic bag over several days so they can get used to regular air.

Most of mine sprout in 7-21 days.

I haven't looked online to see if Gold Star is listed as "sterile" but you might take a look just in case it is. But in general, Tecomas are easy from seed and I don't do anything special to sprout them.

Anyone else? Good luck and keep us posted!
Take care,
Grant

Update:
After reading about the baggie method I decided to try that. I had a little better success but still only two seeds germinated. I'm wondering if I just got some bad seed.

I planted yellow bells Tecoma Stans. I put them in a damp paper towel in a zippy bag on top of my freezer (for heat), they sprouted within a few days. If they don't start this way, put them in the refrigerator for about a week and try again.

Pam

gemfire: When you say put them in the refrigerator are you referring to putting the seeds in the refrigerator before trying to germinate them in the baggies? I did get two seeds to germinate on my first try with the baggie method, put only one has roots and looks healthy. When is a good time to transfer it to soil. I'm not sure how long after sprouting it needs to remain in the baggie.

Hiya Sharon and all,

Hey, the trend is good. :) Congrats on your seedlings, that's a step in the right direction. Maybe try another batch of seedlings or the refrigerator method and let us know how it works out?

I leave them in the plastic bag until they have their first set of "true" leaves and then I very very very slowly open the baggie over a period of three, four, or even five days so they don't go into shock. I try to do it on a weekend when I can keep an eye on them. I start with the tiniest little opening in the bag for a day or two, and then a quarter inch or eighth of an inch space in the ziploc, and so on so the seedlings can slowly get accustomed to regular air. There's nothing worse than watching beautiful seedlings suddenly die because we've opened the bag too quickly. If you go slow, I'm sure yours will be fine.

Good luck and keep us posted. A friend of mine in Palm Springs has a very unusual huge-leaf giant-bloom Tecoma in her garden and she gave me a couple of seeds last visit and I've got two 6 inch seedlings out in the garden. Late September and early October are good times to move the seedlings out in to the garden, again, gradually so starting in shade for a week or two and then slowly more and more sun.

Good luck and keep us posted!
Grant

grant,
I have a yellow bells plant in a pot that I started from seed about a year ago. Right now it is in about a 6" pot, but I would like to plant it in the ground somewhere. Is this a good time of year, or should I wait until early next Spring?

Should I amend the soil at all?

Thanks!

Congrats on your baby yellow bells Hotzona (fun user name by the way, LOL). I think the ideal time to plant them is late September so you're getting close to a good time to plant it. That way it will have month sof gentle temperatures to get established before next year's Blast Furnace kicks in.

I've got some popcorn cassia I grew from seed from my landscape specimens and I'm going to get those in the ground later this month. I think late September is a great time to plant a lot of leafy/woody perennials.

Let us know how it does! I can't wait to see if the blooms on my Tecoma plants are as gigantic as my friend's plant. The leaves on that one were four times the size of the usual ones, clearly a different species but which one I don't know, LOL. I think the whole genus Tecoma is great!

Take care all,
Grant

Thanks for the posts guys. I may have to give the baggie method a try. I got some dried beans/seeds from a plant and just planted some of them in soil in a pot a couple of weeks ago and have not seen any activity. (I honestly had no idea if it would work or not). I have more left over and may try some via baggie method.