Chinese Wisteria III

This morning, I noticed that one more seedling has germinated. After watering them well, I set them outside for 30 minutes of sun. I believe the exposure to sun, beside providing the opportunity for photosynthesis, which is essential to plant health and growth, will also lessen the likelihood of damp off. I was closing the lid to the cupcake container at night, but I noticed a little bit of mold forming, so I stopped closing the lid. The mold, which was very minimally present, seems gone entirely. Germination rate is now 30%.

Chinese Wisteria Bonsai II

I noticed yesterday evening that two of my Wisteria seeds have germinated. Yay!!! The expected germination time was said to be 21 days. However, it has only been 10 days. I guess these guys were a little more eager than their buddies. Today I put them outside for just 20 minutes to receive a little sunshine. I want to be careful that I don't allow the seedlings to dry out as they are still fragile in this early stage, but I know that as trees, they will require full, direct sunlight. So I want to begin conditioning them for such. I watered them well before I set them out. Germination rate is 20%.

Chinese Wisteria Bonsai

One of the seed purchased for my horticulture venture are Chinese Wisteria Seeds. This plant is said to make an excellent bonsai, according to my research. The process begins with stratifying seeds by soaking them in warm water for a minimum of 24 hours. I began that at 6:30 pm on the date of this post. On Sunday evening, I planted them in 2" pots of moist potting soil.

To make use of materials I already have, I put the pots in a plastic cupcake container which came from the store when I purchased cupcake for my students.

I keep the container closed except for when I'm checking on them. The expected germination time is 21 days, probably because of their hard casing, which is also probably why I had to soak them for 24 hours prior to planting. Let's see what we have come April 5, 2014.