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Return to the South African Native Plants Forum | Post a Follow-Up

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Sutherlandia frutescens

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Posted by juliaw z7b (My Page) on
Tue, Sep 7, 04 at 20:59

I have seeds for Sutherlandia that I'm anxious to start, but I've found no germination or cultural information on the web. There's a ton of info out there on this plant, but it's all related to pharmaceutical properties, which neither interests me nor does me any good in this case. Does anyone have any idea how to best germinate Sutherlandia frutescens, and what it likes one it's growing? Thanks.

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RE: Sutherlandia frutescens

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like most legumes, it would benefit from a 24-48 hour soak in water followed by shallow sowing in a warm, moist medium indoors. in the ground it would prefer a sunny, well-drained site protected from cold winds since it would probably not be hardy in your area you might consider growing it a pot as a winter inside plant and summer outdoors plant.

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RE: Sutherlandia frutescens

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Thanks for the response. Sorry about the long time to reply; for some reason I didn't get this message forwarded to my email.

I seem to remember reading something on the web that led me to believe that it might be hardy in my area (or at the very least, that the roots would survive), but now I can't find that piece of info. Guess I should wait on getting plants until they're more common from now on, so there's more info available. Anyway, Thanks again!

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RE: Sutherlandia frutescens

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sutherlandia montana might be somewhat hardier---silverhill seeds in south africa has carried that species at times so you might want to check them out.

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RE: Sutherlandia frutescens

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Amazingly, the seeds will tolerate near-boiling water. Get some water to the "little bubbles" stage in your microwave, which is in reality slightly below 212F. (if you kept it going for a few more seconds it would be 212F). Careful not to let the water superheat - it might be safest to drop the seeds in with a long spoon. Leave the in the water for about 8 hours after this treatment, then sow.

Doing this I got >75% germinating w/Silverhill's Sutherlandia montana seeds. You could also try plain water soaking on a few in case this treatment is too severe for your batch.

Sutherlandia montana grows well in zn 8 Seattle - see attached link.

-David

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.seanet.com/~robwagner/Sutherlandia montana.jpg

  
 

 

 


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