Update: Lotus seeds

There's not much to update except for that now my other lotus seed is lumpy too. So I should be seeing a green shoot within a few days.

Update: Apples and Grapefruit

Gala Apples
2 of the remaining Gala apple seeds are growing very nicely. They'll be planted soon.



Gala apple seeds germinating

Granny Smith
Well that Granny Smith seed that was starting to germinate within the apple has now started it's leaves.


Granny Smith Apple Plant

Grapefruit
Due to a really bad mold problem we had to throw away the grapefruit seeds in the paper towel. One no skin seed germinated though. The seed had seveal pieces and each seed sprouted a root.
On the otherhand, last week one of the no skin seeds in the pot germinated. A few days ago a skin one did too.


Left: No Skin Right:Skin

Growing Grapefruit From Seeds

Today we planted our grapefruit seeds, we are also running an experiment to see which method is ideal.

I have heard to either germinate them in soil, or between wet paper towels. Also I have heard of leaving the skin on and peeling it off.

Peeling off the skin is fairly easy. Look for the small point on top of the seed and bend it. A part of skin will come off as you peel it downward. It should leave small flaps at the top. Use those flaps to peel the rest of the skin off.

Over this past week we have been able to get 14 seeds. Using our greenhouse seed trays, and wet paper towels in a Ziploc bag:

• 3 were planted in soil with skin
• 3 were planted in soil without skin
• 4 were placed between wet paper towels with skin
• 4 were placed between wet paper towels without skin

It will take 7 to 28 days for the seeds to germinate.

We will be repeating this experiment with the honey tangerine seeds but on a larger scale. We were able to get 20 seeds from just one fruit today and we have one more left.

Avocado Pit Experiment

Back in November I decided to start a little experiment to test different growing methods of avocado pits. Browsing the Internet the 2 most popular methods are suspending the avocado pit by toothpicks in water, or planting it halfway in potting soil. Several websites also suggest peeling off the skin. I got 4 avocado pits and tested the 4 methods.

You can read my intro and an update on Hubpages.

After several months the pits where the skin was peeled off made no growth so I tossed them. The ones with skin both had roots. The one in water had a small root but it had cracked significantly while the one in soil had a much longer root but not much cracking.

Next step is to see which will grow a shoot first. I will keep you updated as soon as I get results.