Anyone have experience growing cashews from seed? I have 5 seeds and am wondering the best soil/light conditions for getting them to germinate.
Are they fresh seeds in their shells, or ready-shelled, as bought in shops? If the latter, they won't grow. If the former, be extremely careful in handling them, as the shells are rich in the same poison as in poison-ivy.
Got some seeds from Watcom Seed Co in Oregon, and I made sure to handle them with latex gloves. Are you familiar with trying to germinate? The pack had no info on soil conditions or even germination time.
It's interesting you were able to buy those, as such a big deal is made about how noxious the unprocessed fruits are. Shrub is a hot climate thing, would expect germination needing warm bright environment - maybe under lights. What comes up when you search the internet for "cashew germination" etc.?
Depends on what you read - some says a couple of days, others say a week or so. No one seems to say anything about the type of soil, temperature/moisture requirements or lighting except that they "grow like weeds". Even others that I have chatted with from hot climates (zones 11-12) ask me why I would want to grow them as they are "every where and no one is interested in them"....they do not even plant them as they "just pop up" on their own. And actually the "fruits" are good tasting, it is the nut that is caustic to touch before processing - I just wore gloves when planting the seeds, and there was a BIG warning on the package when I recieved the seeds.
I've been to southern California and Hawaii many times and have never seen any abundance of cashew bushes there. Maybe you are talking about elsewhere. If you can't find anything about the soil just use some typical seed-starting mix.
I am not having any luck finding information on soil type etc. so I split the seeds into 3 groups: 1 seed planted in potting soil and set in a mini greenhouse with light inside the house; 2 seeds planted in topsoil in my heated outdoor greenhouse; 2 seeds placed in the soil of my potted sapodilla inside the house - this little tree seems to be a good "brood" tree as both my mango seeds and a couple more sapodilla seeds have all sprouted here. I will keep you posted on what - if anything - happens..... FYI, the others from zone 11-12 that I was chatting with are located in Puerto Rico and Belize; I believe it must be at least zone 10 for cashews to survive.
