[Arid_gardener] RE: How do I germinate sour orange seeds

[OlinMiller]

I have germinated sour orange seeds by just planting into a container with
an existing house plant, then forgetting about them until they came up.  I
can't recall the success rate but it was pretty low, probably less than 50
%.  We grew two trees and still have one of them (an Algerian Tangerine)
that was budded onto the sour orange seedling.

My old propagation textbook (Hartmann and Kester, "Plant Propagation
Principles and Practices") indicates that seeds from that fleshy fruits or
juices from them, including citrus and tomatoes, exhibit a chemical dormancy
that can strongly inhibit seed germination.  As a minimum, the seeds should
be washed to eliminate the chemicals from the seed coats and also soaked
overnight, then any floaters discarded.

The fermenting process used to remove the chemical germination inhibitors
from tomato seeds might also work for citrus. Squeeze the seeds from a fully
ripe fruit into a jar, add water, cover it and let it stand at room
temperature for about three days. Once fermentation occurs, mold will form
on the surface of the water. Add more water, stir, and then gently scrape
mold and debris off the top. Repeat until only clean seed remains, and then
strain, rinse, and leave the seeds at room temperature until dry.  Don't
know if it will work for citrus but it seems like it's worth trying.

Olin Miller, Master Gardener Volunteer, Maricopa County AZ
=====================================================
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marcia Lincoln" <boahiss at gmail.com>
To: <arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu>
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 12:32 PM
Subject: [Arid_gardener] RE: How do I germinate sour orange seeds


>
>
> I am attempting to sprout some sour orange seeds, to grow a bunch of trees
> to use for grafting other citrus. Citrus trees in Tucson nurseries are no
> longer sold on sour orange root stock, hence I thought I'd try my own.
> I collected seed from fully ripe (fallen on the ground) sour orange trees
> last fall, cleaned and dried them, and stored at room temperature. I've
> planted a dozen or so in commercial potting mix in pots indoors, under a
> fluorescent light, at about 75-78 degrees, and keep a plastic cover over
> the
> pots with some air flow, so the pots stay moist. These went in on 3/31.
> Nary
> a sprout shows at this time. Any suggestions? Should I try soaking the
> seed
> first? Are orange seeds just slow to germinate? Thank you,
>
> Marcia
>
> -- 
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.26/750 - Release Date: 4/6/2007
> 9:30 PM
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Arid_gardener mailing list
> Arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
> http://CALS.arizona.edu/mailman2/listinfo/arid_gardener
>