I'm just starting to germinate these seeds and can't find much information on them at all, does anyone know care instructions, more specifically the proper soil and germination instructions? One site said african violet soil would be good, another said peat is best. Help please!
i don't know about getting the seeds to germinate...i DO know it's considered invasive here and VERY hard to get rid of once it's in the ground. check where you are before you plant it outside! i suppose you could keep it as a houseplant...they can easily be severely pruned back each year to keep it small enough to keep in a container. as evidenced by the one in my neighbors yard i've been trying to get rid of for almost 10 years...he's an older gent and i do what i can to help him with the tangle of weeds because the kids & grands don't do a thing. that tree is STILL there and it doesn't matter where i prune it back to - 6 inches or 4 feet - it keeps growing back every year! i even put chemicals on it the first year when i brought it down to 6 inches - it didn't even flinch!
Joclyn sounds as your neighbours plant is not so sensitive :{ :} Try to remove it by having a 50/50 mix of herbicide, glyphosate generally works but you may need stronger, cut the trunk again a few inches above ground and instantly, without waiting, coat the surface of the cut. If that doesn't work try drilling some holes around the outer ring of the trunk into the growing tissue and fill the holes with same mix. It's called cut and swab and it's used to kill woody weeds that a foliar spray won't effect. As for sowing seed I'd reckon (they are a weed here too) that just keeping them moist and warm should give a reasonable strike rate. A general rule of thumb for seed is plant them about as deep as they are in size, if they are tiny they must be shallow. If the seed is too deep then they usually do not germinate well.
nope!!! this thing is NOT too sensitive, lol!!! i DID use glyphosate and i put it directly into the center of the trunk after i'd lopped off the top! didn't phase it one darn bit - and we had a drought later that year, too!! maybe i didn't soak it well enough...it didn't grow back completely until the following year, so what i did put on did have some effect. although, like i said, this thing didn't even flinch! ;) it just continued to grow (albeit at a slower rate) than it had before the treatment. well, the old gent passed away over the summer - not sure if one of the children moved (the daughter wanted to) or if it's being rented out or if other family members moved in...i hear people (i'm in a twin so one wall is connected) yet i haven't caught up with anyone outside yet - too cold to be doing yardwork and my schedule has been not the usual - year end causes over-working for me - so i can't go knocking on the door to say hello & welcome at 11 pm or 12 am. so, i'll have to wait until spring before doing anything...depending on who is living in the house, may cause me to be unable to do anything about it at all. if they don't mind, i'll do the side cuts and see if that doesn't do a better job - the trunk is about 4 inches in diameter now...so something more than just dumping on top where it's cut is going to be needed! there's a ton of thistle and some pokeweed in that back corner as well - really needs to be cleared out, too! sorry to get off on a tangent, shannon!!! back on topic - i think general treatment of the seeds would do fine: fine grade medium to germinate them in (mix of sand and fine potting soil) and keep them in a fairly bright and warm spot; keep moist (not soggy) and they should sprout just fine for you. once they do, you'll need to water a bit more frequently and ease them into full sun conditions. once you see a pair of true leaves going, you can transplant into a larger container - those peat pots maybe, so you can just plop the whole thing in the ground when the weather is warm enough and then you won't have to worry about disturbing the roots to do a regular transplanting.
Thank you so much for all the information. I didn't realize it would get so big, the pics looked like a cute houseplant lol!
Shannon, you can prune the foliage down, as well as the root ball to keep it contained for a houseplant.
oh, it'll definitely work as a potted houseplant!! i've cut back the one here numerous times - each time i have (cut off below any branching) it grew back the following year with no problems. so, i'd think you could do light pruning for a few years and then do a severe pruning once it's getting too tall and then rotate light pruning and severe as you go along.
Thank you all so much for the advice. Guess I killed the last one I tried to germinate with TOO much care lol!!
lol Even then. Who knows, I just might have to come back and find that info one day if this proves to be a mistake!!
I've germinated my seeds in just plain old dirt, and they did just fine, until a giant spider menaced them and I accidentally pesticided them to death...
I know that this convo was started a very long time ago, but in case you are still trying, Mimosa pudica seeds work best scarred. Scarification is easy. Just take a knife and nick the seed so that you can see some white inside the seed. I highly recommend keeping them inside they are an invasive species in some places. I don't think they get very big. Like three feet or so. And Jocelyn, I am not sure that what you have in your neighbor's yard is a Mimosa pudica. Does it have thorns? Does it fall and fold up when it is touched? I have never heard of them getting so big, even in their native areas, and never never heard of them being able to survive any kind of drought. Mine have almost died dozens of times when I just let them get a little dry. They have very similar looking family members though. Other Mimosas get very big, like trees, and they do still fold up at night. Other care tips, keep them moist. They like cool more than hot. Not more than seventies. I leave mine out for the summer sometimes, they will live but they don't really like it when it is very hot and watering constantly is a must. Mine will then bloom when I bring them in to cooler temps or the fall comes and it starts to get cool. This makes me laugh. Lol. Good potting soil is peat moss and perlite. Sand or vermiculite can be used in place of perlite. I hope this helps. Oh, and don't forget they do have thorns. It's really not too much of a problem that I have seen they are very small, maybe it would teach a cat a lesson that thought it was fun to bat at it and watch it fall. But it is a really fun plant to have around. If you have any children in your life, nieces and nephews will love to watch it fall. And it really is pretty. It's a good plant.
Mimosa pudica is a tropical species and not invasive in temperate climates. It's cousin Schrankia (aka Mimosa quadrivalvis L. var. nuttallii ) nuttallii is cold hardy and native to North America, so therefore hardly qualifies as invasive, more likely just aggressive.
