Hi Rebecca,

When I sow gesnariad seeds I take a piece of white paper about 81/2 by 5 inches and folded it in half. I opened it up and put the seeds in the crease of the paper. I've then tap the paper very gently letting the seeds fall over the planting area. It works pretty well for me. I usually get a very even distribution of seeds.

Good luck and have fun,

Larry

PS. - don't cover the seeds with soil or anything. They need to be on top of the surface. The light shining on the seeds is a very important part of germination.

Hi Celene,
I ditto everything Larry wrote. A piece of paper with a fold has always worked well for me with any gesneriad seed--all gesneriad seed is tiny.

It is important that your media is thoroughly wet before you sow your seeds. I use my sterilized peat, perlite, and vermiculite (cooked in the oven for 3 hours at 170F MOL). I make up a batch and use it until I run out--it is fine for several years if kept in a covered container. I just fill a pot with the soil and then very carefully wet the soil with a tiny stream of water from the sink. When its really wet, I sow the seeds, label, enclose in a ziplock bag, and put under lights. Fresh strep seeds will germinate quickly though for mysterious reasons, sometimes older strep seed can take several months. Scatter the seeds very thinly, as you will get a huge germination of tiny tiny seedlings. Save some seed or plant in two or three pots to prevent any problems. When the seeds germinate they are so tiny they are very hard to see. I am nearsighted so I have good close up vision if I take off my glasses. I will look so carefully and then see tiny little pairs of leaves. On streps one cotyledon leaf will then grow on and get close to full size. On the single leaf strep species (monocarpic), you still get two tiny cotyledon leaves, but only one grows on to become the plant.

Jon

Thank you so much, Jon and Larry...I will get these planted tonight, I actually harvested the seed just this morning. I have access to an autoclave, so I autoclaved a brick of seed starting mix this afternoon for planting.

Jon, I'll keep my eye out for a head loupe for you--they're quite helpful when watching for germination on tiny seedlings. *L*

Thanks again for your help,

Rebecca

Celene, how long did it take your seed pod to ripen? I pollinated some time around October 5th (so 12 weeks ago) and my pod is still green.