Growing erios and xyris from seed

[Hanuman]

I have been experimenting on growing 3 sp of erios and 1 sp of xyris from seed for the past year and so far all attempts have failed. What I am trying to grow are :
1 . Eriocaulon cuspidatum
2. Eriocaulon willdenovianum
3. Eriocaulon fysoni (this one I am not convinced it's really E. fysoni. I only found one reference on internet)
4. Xyris operculata

Here you can appreciate how small the seeds are:


This is the 4th attempt:


There are many possible reasons why previous attempts have not worked, such as seed viability, temperature, soil etc etc. However, this time I talked to a botanist based in Thailand who is specialized in Eriocaulon. I was advised to heat/dihydrate the seeds up to 60C during 3 days. Then prime the seeds with a 0.2% KNO3 solution during 6 hours which I did. I didn't go through the dihydration process as my seeds have been sitting in a box on top of my aquarium light for quite some time so I guess they are probably pretty much dehydrated by now. I know these seeds can take 3 weeks or more to germinate so now it's a waiting game. Hopefully this time it will work.

If anyone has had any success in germinating these specific plant sp. please let me know.

I will update the thread when necessary.

 

[plantnoobdude]

[I am not sure if this is the right place to post but I couldn't find any more suitable place. Please move if necessary.]

I have been experimenting on growing 3 sp of erios and 1 sp of xyris from seed for the past year and so far all attempts have failed. What I am trying to grow are :
1 . Eriocaulon cuspidatum
2. Eriocaulon willdenovianum
3. Eriocaulon fysoni (this one I am not convinced it's really E. fysoni. I only found one reference on internet)
4. Xyris operculata

Here you can appreciate how small the seeds are:
View attachment 184439

This is the 4th attempt:
View attachment 184436 View attachment 184437 View attachment 184438

There are many possible reasons why previous attempts have not worked, such as seed viability, temperature, soil etc etc. However, this time I talked to a botanist based in Thailand who is specialized in Eriocaulon. I was advised to heat/dihydrate the seeds up to 60C during 3 days. Then prime the seeds with a 0.2% KNO3 solution during 6 hours which I did. I didn't go through the dihydration process as my seeds have been sitting in a box on top of my aquarium light for quite some time so I guess they are probably pretty much dehydrated by now. I know these seeds can take 3 weeks or more to germinate so now it's a waiting game. Hopefully this time it will work.

If anyone has had any success in germinating these specific plant sp. please let me know.

I will update the thread when necessary.

the guy from aquatank sells these seeds pretty often. might be worth asking him.
not sure if you've seen this link either

Growing Eriocaulon from seeds

Growing Eriocaulon from seeds is quite simple, just follow this instructions. Needed stuff: Plastic cups (coffee cups are ok), Transpar...

bolbiaquarium.blogspot.com

anyway the one that stood out to me is xyris operculata. I considered getting seeds of these considering the xyris family is mostly aquatic, however I didn;t because I was unsure how they'd look submersed. do you know how they look?

 

[Hanuman]

the guy from aquatank sells these seeds pretty often. might be worth asking him.
not sure if you've seen this link either

Yes I know that link and a few others. In fact I have grown other Erios from seed but this specific sp I mentioned I have been unsuccessful so far. I am wondering if the seeds are viable actually.

anyway the one that stood out to me is xyris operculata. I considered getting seeds of these considering the xyris family is mostly aquatic, however I didn;t because I was unsure how they'd look submersed. do you know how they look?

No idea how they look submersed, this is purely experimental. I am not even sure if they can survive submersed.
In the past I tried growing some Xyris sp. from the south of Thailand. They survived for a while in my tank then died.

 

[plantnoobdude]

Yes I know that link and a few others. In fact I have grown other Erios from seed but this specific sp I mentioned I have been unsuccessful so far. I am wondering if the seeds are viable actually.


No idea how they look submersed, this is purely experimental. I am not even sure if they can survive submersed.
In the past I tried growing some Xyris sp. from the south of Thailand. They survived for a while in my tank then died.

care to show the other links?

as for the xyris please update this thread. am very interested in getting some xyris, but don;t feel like paying crazy amounts lol.
anyways, I don't think I've seen a picture of your tank, I'd love to see some!

 

[Hanuman]

care to show the other links?

Missed your post.

• Ebay was one. There was one seller from Ukraine that provided instructions in details. The store name was AquaTank but seems he is not selling anything anymore so nothing to be seen there.
• The other one was this: Всё про эриокаулоны

 

[MirandaB]

Missed your post.

• Ebay was one. There was one seller from Ukraine that provided instructions in details. The store name was AquaTank but seems he is not selling anything anymore so nothing to be seen there.
• The other one was this: Всё про эриокаулоны

That seller in the Ukraine is Alan Yusupov I think....if you're on Facebook you could try messaging him on there.
He's on my friends list and is active on there at the moment although with the current situation things may be difficult for him.

 

[plantnoobdude]

That seller in the Ukraine is Alan Yusupov I think....if you're on Facebook you could try messaging him on there.
He's on my friends list and is active on there at the moment although with the current situation things may be difficult for him.

oh, that's what happened. I knew he stopped selling from ukraine but I hadn't connected the dots....

 

[plantnoobdude]

[I am not sure if this is the right place to post but I couldn't find any more suitable place. Please move if necessary.]

I have been experimenting on growing 3 sp of erios and 1 sp of xyris from seed for the past year and so far all attempts have failed. What I am trying to grow are :
1 . Eriocaulon cuspidatum
2. Eriocaulon willdenovianum
3. Eriocaulon fysoni (this one I am not convinced it's really E. fysoni. I only found one reference on internet)
4. Xyris operculata

Here you can appreciate how small the seeds are:
View attachment 184439

This is the 4th attempt:
View attachment 184436 View attachment 184437 View attachment 184438

There are many possible reasons why previous attempts have not worked, such as seed viability, temperature, soil etc etc. However, this time I talked to a botanist based in Thailand who is specialized in Eriocaulon. I was advised to heat/dihydrate the seeds up to 60C during 3 days. Then prime the seeds with a 0.2% KNO3 solution during 6 hours which I did. I didn't go through the dihydration process as my seeds have been sitting in a box on top of my aquarium light for quite some time so I guess they are probably pretty much dehydrated by now. I know these seeds can take 3 weeks or more to germinate so now it's a waiting game. Hopefully this time it will work.

If anyone has had any success in germinating these specific plant sp. please let me know.

I will update the thread when necessary.

Did you eventually succeed? I am very interested in cuspidatum....

 

[Hanuman]

Did you eventually succeed? I am very interested in cuspidatum....

Nope. Total failure. These erios seem very difficult to grow from seed. Even Tom Barr who I spoke to and teaches seed propagation in college was never able to germinate them using seeds from 4 different sources. It could be that the seeds are sterile and were harvested too early as well. I will try one last time as I don’t have many left.

 

[_Maq_]

I've got some seeds from this vendor. From several dozens of seeds, a few individuals germinated. Very tiny plantlets, I've failed to keep them alive.

 

[Hanuman]

I've got some seeds from this vendor. From several dozens of seeds, a few individuals germinated. Very tiny plantlets, I've failed to keep them alive.

Seed of what SP specifically? Other Ericaulon are not that hard in my experience. They are just slow at germinating.

 

[_Maq_]

Seed of what SP specifically?

E. parkeri, E. quinquangulare, E. Hainan Island, E. Kyoto Kurohoshikusa, E. Mang Yang, E. Udontanichibioni.

 

[Hanuman]

E. Udontanichibioni.

Got to love how these growers take the liberty to invent plant names just to make it look like they have a new SP in hand. That "E. Udontanichibioni" is actually "E. Udonthani". Udonthani being the name of one of the 76 provinces of Thailand, located in the north east. In fact that E. Udonthani is most probably E. Cinerum.

 

[_Maq_]

Got to love how these growers take the liberty to invent plant names just to make it look like they have a new SP in hand.

I bet it happens quite regularly. I suspect the genus Bucephalandra suffers the same commercial disease.

 

[Hanuman]

I bet it happens quite regularly. I suspect the genus Bucephalandra suffers the same commercial disease.

Yes Bucephalandra is perhaps the most abused of all. That’s why I refuse to buy anymore Bucephalandra from these farmers or even bucephalandra specialized retaillers. They haven’t got the slightest clue what they are selling.