I was emptying out the bottom of my Tuffpak, and I was amazed to find a jacket rolled up and stuffed in the bottom, and lo and behold I found two big fruits from a Baobab Tree and a couple more big fat seed pods from an Apple Ring Acacia Tree!!

If I ever find out who did it, I'll have to turn them in to customs!

But I might as well make the best of a good thing and see if i can get these babies to germinate. I live in Southern California, close to the desert, and I think the climate is pretty similar to the Zambezi Valley, except we don't have their rainy season. Sprinklers would fix that.

What do you think? Has anybody given it a try?

N�gagi,

There are several varieties of acacia growing at the Wild Animal Park and Zoo in San Diego. If you are close enough you might have a talk with one of the biologists there�

Best regards;
Brett

These two fruits are unusual in that they are likely to be productive.
JCN

Californina is full of fruits, what's two more?

Hey Mark. I wouldn't be too vocal about doing this. Even by accident the Ag. Dept. gets pretty serious about potential problems with imported agriculture.
Frank

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You can also take a sharp knife and scrape the seed coat on it's outer edge through to the cotyledons. Keep it on the warm side and soak it between paper towels and it should germinate.

I would use sulfuric acid to scarify the seeds. Let the seeds soke in the acid for about 10 minutes. This will allow the acid to sufficiently breakdown the seed coat to allow for easier germination. Be sure and wash the seed with running water after soking in the acid. Watch out also because you might just get a reaction if there is alot of acid still left on the seeds. Then do as someone mentioned and place them between some moist paper towels.

You also might have to consider that some seeds have a biological clock that tells them when to germinate. Some have to go through a cold spell, which you can simulate by putting them in the fridge for a month or two. Other plant require a warm period. Probably the best way to determine which this seed might need is to do a little research and find out when this particular plant germinates normally. If it germinates in the spring, then it might need a cold period. If it germinates in the fall, then it might need a warm period.

As someone mentioned, you can also scrape the outside of the seed with something like sandpaper. You don't want to scrape the seed coat to the fruit of the seed, but just enough to allow for the seed to imbibe the necessary moisture for proper germination.

Also, since I work with invasive weed management. I would keep things quite!!!! You don't want some government A-hole setting on your front door step when you get home one day.

graybird