brugmansia question

Hey, can anyone tell me how long the seeds are good for? Scrounging around through my packets I found some I forgot I bought about a year ago. I'm just wondering if they are still viable or if I should just get rid of them.

 

If you have a good number of seeds you could try a sample germination test. Put say 2 or 3 seeds on some damp kitchen towel inside a container (yogurt pot / margarine tub or similar) keep somewhere warm and in a week you should see signs of life. If so you can estimate the probable viability of the remaining seed.

Oh, and don't forget that all parts of Brugmansia are poisonous - especially the seed.

 

Hi
Hows you , dark miserabe wet and cold winter nearly over and we will all feel a bit better

I supose with the seed it all depends how you have kept them , and how they liked to be stored how big are the seeds as I had runner beans I found in tin must of been there at least 10 years and out of the 10, 7 grew so its worth a try , get some fresh and grow the old ones as well just in case.

I have grown from plants but they grow so big I cant fit everything into the green house plus last year winter killed then off , I call them Angels Trumpets , very poisonous.


Spruce

 

Hi Julie
I have germinated some that were 18months old so give it a go ,nothing lost . I would give them a little soak to soften the corky outer layer as they will have got very dry .
I have a large seed pod on one of my Double whites so looking forward to sowing those soon ..

Dave

 

Dave, will they flower the first year from seed?

The cuttings you sent are doing well! Only one didn't make it, which is a booger. Thanks!!

 

Catztail - I grew about 25 from an early sowing of seed last year and virtually every one flowered that year, but not till late in the year. They are extraordinary things. Some of mine reached 7 or 8 feet with stems at least an inch in diameter within that first year. But they do like a lot of feeding.

 

With seed you have nothing to lose, so I would say sow them in a propagator, with the initial soaking Dave suggests.

 

Thanks guys! Geeze if I grow the seeds then between those and the cuttings I have I won't have room for anything else!

 

When clearing out that draw that we all have last winter I found some Datura seeds (close relative) that were five years out of date. Soaked and sown, I got probably 80% germination.

 

Oh, and don't forget that all parts of Brugmansia are poisonous - especially the seed.[/QUOTE]

Ahem!! Spose thats one word for it.

 

Hi Guys and Gals
I'm new here but I need to comment on the common quote when Brugmansia are mentioned!
Sure they are poisonous but much less so than Deadly Nightshade, Rhubarb, etc.
There are not many recorded poisonings from Brugmansia apart from the silly treetreetreetreetreetreetree who try to extract the hallucinogenic propertys from the plant, eg- smoking the leaves, tea potions from the leaves, copying Ecuadorian shay men visiting spirits etc.
All that's required is a wash of the hands after touching and don't get sap in your eye.
I'm sure this will initiate a debate but really what I have said is just the basic's of common sense!

Cats
Lots of the seeds will probably germinate but why waste time and bench space on old seeds.
Good luck if you try them :-)
Alan

 

I was idling - on the internet - as you do. And I came across a site that was devoted to halucinogenic plants and people's experiance with them.

There was one chap who said that he had tried to have an experience with Brugmansia by various different methods, but to no effect. So he kept increasing the dose untill he ate half of all the seeds in a fruit - and then found there was an effect. So I assumes from that that it wasn't quite as poisonous as people had implied.

But I don't think I am going to try - all that cork would be a bit chewy. :D

 

LOL Pete.

Exactly, you would have to consume/ingest copious amounts for any serious effects.
Don't be afraid of these beautiful plants

 

I think too many people get too exciting about "poisonous" plants.

As a kid I was told to wash my hands when Mother and I picked Aconites ... and I learned to understand that some plants were poisonous.

Apple Pips are poisonous (or is that urban legend?) and I've eaten loads of them ...

And I now know of plants that are poisonous which I never did know when I was younger. Handled them a lot ... licked my fingers too I expect ... but I'm happy to say that my new found knowledge does NOT mean that I now feel the need to wear gloves when I handle them!

I'm growing Ricinus for this first time this year, that was made famous by the Russian spy who murdered someone on a London bridge with the tip of his umbrella loaded with some of that plant. I'll be a bit more careful handling that ... but not much I expect.

 

Apple pips (and the kernel in plum stones which I used to like) contain arsenic - if you ate a tipper truck load o apples there should be enough arsenic there to kill you............

My dopey ex sister in law was horrified when I told her that the Datura was poisonous and threw it away as she didn't want my niece getting poisoned. I pointed out that if she was going to eat everything that she laid hands on she wasn't long for this world anyway. As I said this I she was drinking out of a can so I asked her if she understood the risks of Weils disease!
This poisonous plant thing winds me up!