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Scarifying seeds

I just got ahold of some Roridula Dentata seeds, and they require scarification to germinate. I'll probably try half with a cigarrette and a dome to trap the smoke and half with burning either grass or paper. Has anyone tried this for seeds and gotten decent germination?
 
I have only ever attempted R. gorgonias. R. denatata is supposed to be a much harder plant to germinate but I will tell you what i did anyway!!!

I got a metal pan and placed some screwed up newspaper on it. On top of this I added a variety of materials, dead dry leaves from various grasses and trees and a mixture of green leaves. Ignite it then hold a glass milk bottle over the smoke till it fills up.
Add some water to the bottle quickly and swoosh it around. Some of the chemicals will disolve into the water. I also added some of the ash that had been produced. Strain the water and place it into a small container and soak the seeds in it for 24 hours or so. After sowing, water the pot with the remaining solution.

I can't say for sure if this worked or if I was just lucky.I had quite a few seeds germinate but it is said that R. Gorgonias will germinate without special treatment.

Might be worth a try (not on all your seeds though&#33
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Scarifying seeds, is nothing to do with smoke/heat treatment. It means to abrade a hard seed coat (the exoderm), to make it thinner or to expose the inner softer bit of the seed (the endoderm). Hard coated seed are usually gently sand-papered, or the seed coat carefully sliced.
Smoke/heat treatment is different, sometimes called heat-stratification. I've heard that kettle-type BBQs (eg Webers)can be used quite effectively for this. Put a small amount of peat in the bottom, set it alight, and blow out the flames so it just smoulders. Put your plant pot where the burgers usually go (clay pots might be best), put on the lid and smoke your seeds. I've never tried this method, it was described in the UK CPS Journal a few years back, by A. Lowrie as a method of smoke treating difficult Australian Drosera and Byblis. Most growers use gibberelic acid (a plant hormone) to help germinate seeds which require heat-stratifcation, its much easier, don't know if it works with Roridula though.

Vic
 
I have grown Roridula dentata and Roridula gorgonias from seed.
I tried almost everything (gibberelin acid, smoke, hot water, burning grasses, ...) but the results always depend on luck.

I had Roridula gorgonias seed germinating in very wet soil (between Utricularia) without any treatment. I never put the seed there, btw...

And I had seed treated with almost everything from above and waited 2 years withot any success.

My advice for Roridula is :

Sow them in spring or autumn with a photoperiod near to 12 hours, hot days and cold nights and place the pot at a very sunny place.

You can also some treatment, maybe this will help...

Martin
 
Thanks for the info everyone, I'm going to try with the smoke treatment this fall and see how it goes.
 
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