Quest for Cyphostemma
I am with the people who have tried sowing Cyphostemma seed without much success for many years. It seemed to be hit or miss with this genus.
Advice from people who have had success varied a bit. One person swore to just put the whole "grape" without cleaning in soil and let it do its thing. That method sounds like what would happen in nature?
Another talked of cleaning the seed completely, then using sandpaper to sand
off each end of the seed a bit, then sowing it. This is a method of scarifying the seed. Some people do similar with cycad seeds.
My own personal experience, I ve cleaned the seed from my mystery cyphostemma, more on that ID later, stored them for a bit, then sowed them
in my regular 50/50 of Supersoil and Pumice Mix and water regularly and let them dry out between waterings.
This particular batch shown in the foto below, I sowed the seed last winter, and just noticed them this late spring. I have a confusing greenhouse, okay!
I found if you can get them going past the 3 inch pot stage, have a good enough climate (warm summer and mild winter), go ahead and plant them in the ground or in beds outside, you will have a monster plant in a relatively fast period of time. Or if you only have a greenhouse, make an indoor bed garden to let them "stretch" their roots and watch them take off.
A friend had a "bowling pin" size plant reach a 3 foot tall x 1 foot diameter stage in less than 5 years in the ground in Torrance, CA. It would probably be even faster in a hot climate such as Riverside, CA or similar.
best,
sarmis luters
redondo beach, ca
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