How to Germinate Exotic Seeds: Part 1(YouTube)

Our second Youtube video is out! It covers the basics on growing houseplants from seed, check it out:

Here’s the breakdown of the video:

These are the conditions tropical seeds need to germinate in order of importance:

1. Humidity

2. Warmth

3. Light

4. Air

We’re covering 2 different methods of establishing those conditions in this first video:

• “The Classic Greenhouse method”, for which you’ll need:

  • a mini greenhouse, like this one.

  • If your greenhouse doesn’t have soil pods, then you’ll need either soil pods(like these) or just potting soil

  • warm water

  • the seeds!

• “The DIY greenhouse method”, for which you’ll need:

  • a small nursery planter, ideally 2-4”.

  • soil- this can be basic potting mix or you can use a cocopeat soil pod like I used in the video.

  • water

  • the seeds!

Here are the steps we covered in the video for planting Asparagus Plumosus Nana, or Lace Fern, seeds:

1. Prep your soil: make sure it is moist, not too dry and not too soggy. When you’re using the soil pods, you can usually be a little more liberal with water.

2. Sow your seeds: you don’t need to plant them too deep. Keep them pretty spread out, so one seed per mini soil pod, or 2-3 seeds per nursery planter

3. Establishing Humidity: for classic mini greenhouses that just means putting on the lid they come with, for the diy greenhouse method that means wrapping the planter with plastic wrap or covering it with a ziploc baggie. You want to see condensation on the lid, which is a good sign there’s a good amount of humidity and warmth in your little greenhouse!

4. Establishing Warmth: keep between 70-90F, too many temperature fluctuations can halt germination. A great way to keep a consistent temperature is a heat mat.

5. Establishing Light: tropicals aren’t as picky about their light, but you’ll want to provide a good, bright light source- a grow light is ideal, otherwise a bright windowsill that does NOT get direct sunlight(direct sun can damage your seeds and seedlings).

6. Time: There’s a large range of times for tropicals to germinate, some sprout in 2 days and others only germinate in 3-6 months, so research your seeds! The conditions you set also cause variations in germination times.

   A good trick for you impatient gardeners(like myself): plant your seeds in batches! Coleus and polka dot seeds germinate quickly, then intermediate seeds like Fatsia Japonica and China Doll seeds usually germinate within 1-3 weeks, and others like Philodendron Selloum or Coffea Catura seeds germinate in a month or 2.

Let us know if anything isn’t clear, or if you just have further questions you’d like use to address in future videos, by commenting on the video or emailing us at shop.plantflix@gmail.com! Tag us in photos on our instagram @plantflix :)