Strelitzia 'Bird of Paradise' Seeds

These took some trial and error to germinate, but I've finally managed to produce success.

I germinated using the paper towel method, wetting with hydroponic nutrient solution, and it required I work in several stages:

- For week 1, I put the seeds in wet paper towels as-is—I did not scarify the seeds or remove the orange hairs at the tip.
- For week 2, I removed the orange hairs, which were basically falling off on their own at this point, and replaced the bag and paper towels with fresh ones.
- I left this as-is for multiple weeks, replacing paper towels and bags weekly. I had a white fuzz building up on the seeds that I would gently brush away with a soft-bristled toothbrush each week when I changed the paper towels.
- Once the seeds started to bulge, I would lightly file the tips (not enough to show white) and I had sprouts within a week.

This is the third batch I've tried and have 3 of 5 sprouting in this batch after a month and a week (March 3rd to April 13th). This is a major improvement over the previous batches that had 0% germination and one batch scarified from the beginning actually rotted hollow.

Note that seedling 2 was not scarified at all in this batch and had to break through the tip on its own. I'm not as confident in this one's survival as 4 and 5 which were both scarified and are healthy color all the way through.

Could not believe my eyes this morning when I opened my BOP greenhouse to water and saw this poking out! I planted this batch on 12/19, so it's only been 21 days. My first batch that I've been about ready to give up on is just over 2 month with no growth so I was shocked to see growth in my new batch already!

I planted both batches the same. The first one I used sand paper to do the scarification then soaked for 48 hours. The second I used cuticle cutters to clip the end of the seed a bit more aggressively (but not too aggressive!) than I did with the sand paper then soaked for 48 hours. Sits on a heat mat under grow lights. I'm so excited! I'm hoping more will be popping up in the coming days/weeks.

Another thing I did different was leave them alone. The first batch I was so excited that I was digging in the soil to check for changes probably once a week after the first couple weeks. The second batch I have not bothered at all. Just open daily to check the soil/water when needed. Not sure if that helped, or if it was the change in scarification methods but I'm delighted either way!

The packaging was well done. Shipping was within reasonable expectations. Great product.

Seeds arrived in a timely manner, good information provided with the seeds, and also received a discount coupon. Now I need to wait to see if seeds germinate

Got it! Thank you so much!