How to Plant Gesneriad Seeds

Gesneriad seeds are a little bit different than some of the garden-type seeds many people are familiar with.

They have some particular requirements for success, so here is a little tutorial for you about how to plant the seeds.

First tell your plant-room helpers you will be working with tiny, delicate things.

Sometimes your helper will be listening intently. Now is a good time to explain that tails in the dirt, sweeping the seeds and pots off the table and stepping in the project isn't helpful.

First, get your materials on hand and organized. You need: a clam shell clear deli container, small pots with drainage, perlite, soil, milled sphagnum moss, spray bottle of water, wicks for the pots (optional), a Sharpie marker, scissors and a white sheet of paper.

Set up your pots now. I like a small layer of perlite in the bottom of each pot with the wick already placed and then the MOIST potting soil on top of that. I see how many of the little pots fit into my clear deli container and make up that number of pots.

Get your seeds ready. Take notes (if you wish) to record what you're planting and note any interesting facts you might want at a later time. You won't remember a fact like which seed was smaller than another in a month.

 Some people really strongly believe that a very light layer of milled (shredded) sphagnum peat moss on the top surface of your pot will help keep any of the bad fungal problems, such as damping off, from killing the seedlings. I find that since the sphagnum holds about 20x it's weight in water, it helps the micro seeds keep evenly moist. It certainly has never seemed to hurt the seedlings or stop any germination from happening.

As you can see, the pots have some perlite in the bottom, the layer of potting mix next and then a little sprinkling of milled moss on the top. Spray that with some room temperature water and get it all evenly moist. 

 The Gesneriad seeds are very tiny. They NEED LIGHT TO GERMINATE. You do not cover them with additional soil after you distribute them on the soil surface. They are also very light weight and will blow away with any breeze. Remove the helper pets at this time, turn off the fans and close the windows if they are open.

The white paper will let you SEE the seed and also let you distribute it around the pot so you don't get a clump of 59 seeds all tangled up together. The seedlings are super tiny and even more delicate. If you don't try to spread the seed out when you plant it, it is very hard to spread out the babies without hurting some of them.

Folding the paper in this manner lets you control where the seed goes. You can get the seed to slide down the crease by gently tapping the paper. Tap very carefully.

Some of the Gesneriad seed is even smaller than the normal micro-size. It's very micro-sized, almost like dust particles. The seeds do not contain much protection or nutrition for the newly sprouting young. This is why you take such care when planting and then when they are first growing out. They are indeed delicate.

 After you put each type of seed in a WELL LABELED pot, put the pots into the tray. When full, close up the tray. The moist soil and moist sphagnum moss on the top of the pot "should" be just damp enough to allow for germination and growth. What IS damp enough? Damp enough is moist to your touch, but not dripping out of the bottom of the pot. Also, when closed and under the lights, the clam shell should get a little moisture building up on the interior surface. If it's not, then add a small amount of water in the clam shell and let the pots soak up what they want. Don't let them sit in a puddle of water. Don't drown your tiny seeds and seedlings!

When all done put the containers under some lights. BE CAREFUL if you try putting them in a window. I cooked all my summer seeds this way. Under lights is a much safer and more satisfying route for getting the expensive, rare little gems to grow for you.

Wait a couple weeks to a few months (depending on the varieties you plant) and enjoy. Don't throw away the containers or pots if nothing happens in a month or two. Believe it or not, some of the Gesneriad seeds can take MONTHS to decide to germinate and grow.

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