Hmmm, well, tried the soaking before too - didn't work, although I just used water, didn't use any kelp.

I'm very successful at heat lovers and easily germinate eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, cuke, etc. so temp wouldn't seem to be the problem.

you said you used water.. the article said warm/hot water.. maintained at heat ??? hence the thermos ...

i wonder if knicking them.. like morning glory .... might help ... i found that an emery board was easier than trying to use a blade on a hard coat ...

ken

Yep, did that too - mentioned the scarification in original post...

I know I can buy them in the spring, but I was hoping to get them going myself so I can grow them on into larger plants before setting out - like you mentioned, they really like the heat and sometimes take a bit to really start putting out growth once planted. Plus, I just like to grow things :0)

Do you know what species of Datura you are trying to germinate?

I grow Datura wrightii, which is perennial to zone 7 (maybe 6 if protected). Doesn't need rich soil since it is a native and outside of its hardiness range, it will reseed.

I have also grown the more tropical Daturas (meteloides), yellow and purple flowering annuals.

For both, I just direct sow, or plant outside in a nice-sized pot, up to a gallon size, and transplant in the garden or pot up to a larger size as it grows.

I have never treated these seeds in any special way and they seem to germinate just fine thru virtual benign neglect, other than watering when the medium becomes dry in the early stages of growth. Mature plants are pretty xeric.

Susan

I have started purchased seed and my own saved seed with no special treatments or extra heat over my normal 70 degrees. Very high percentage germinate. Purchased seed from local Baker Creek seed outlet. Al

I grew Datura ("Purple Ballerina") last year and had good germination, starting seeds under fluorescent lights at about 70F and covering them to their thickness using a sterile soilless mix. I've also grown D. wrightii much the same way, also with good germination.

If there's a problem, maybe it's the soil mix promoting damping off, or poor quality seeds.

I am a bit surprised that anyone finds these hard to germinate. I wintersowed mine, no trouble at all. I admit, I was skeptical they would germinate, because I've read they need warm temps and I am in zone 5 NY. But datura are highly poisonous, I don't dare start them indoors with my 3 curious cats. I figured, I'll give it a try and see if they germinate. They germinated well, the plants grew big and the flowers were pretty, a double white with purple edge. Also a strong fragrance. But, as I mentioned, highly poisonous, if you have pets or small children, I would avoid this plant. I needed something poisonous because that is about all that the woodchucks won't eat.

here in the Dominican Republic during August it is 32c 82f. My Datura seeds took 3 weeks to germinate even at that temperature.I think then it is a combination of heat and needing to be kept wet to soften the outer layer of the seed. They are now about 3" high and ive found white fly on two of them so im going to spray with a systemic insecticide.

I winter sowed mine and got this giant. There's actually 3 plants there but two of them are very small and don't show up in the picture since they're hidden below the giant. All 3 have been flowering profusely and I just harvested my first 2 seed pods this morning!! I didn't seem to have any trouble with germination but did have trouble keeping the seedlings alive. The first to germinate got hit with a frost and died but the second group did just find. I was only able to put this group in the ground and they seem very happy!

Here in Z6 (20 miles north of Boston on the NH border), my datura typically re-seed without my doing anything to help them along. There's a thick layer of mulch where they grow and it stays very moist. Last winter was uncharacteristically mild and the largest plant never died.