I, too, received A. robusta seeds but mine were about a month ago, and looks like none of them are going to germinate. I'm surprised because most everything else I've gotten from Troy has done well, or at least, has arrived well. I got some Alocasia seeds last year from him (not robusta) and they all germinated fine.

Alocasia seeds are really finicky; drying out after harvesting, even for a short time, is the death knell for them. Last year I got some from China with the berry remnants still on them, and none of them germinated. If they do not stay moist from berry to you, they are history, in my experience.

LariAnn Garner
Aroidia Research

Here is a link that might be useful: Aroidia Research

Thanks LariAnn. How long did your other Alocasia seeds take to germinate?
When nothing germinates Troy promised to send me some new seeds. So his service is really great.

Alocasia seeds germinate within a week when fresh. The first batch I got from Troy had already begun germinating when they arrived. This is due to the fact that he packed them moist and they arrived moist. If the seeds arrive dry, you're dead!

If they are moist (fresh) and have not germinated on arrival, they should be budding within a week. When I harvest fresh hybrid berries (I'm doing a lot of that this year), the cleaned seeds show little sprout buds in 5 to 7 days.

Troy is quite good at taking care of things for customers, that is a fact. I just haven't written him yet to tell him what has happened to my latest seeds.

LariAnn Garner

Here is a link that might be useful: Aroidia Research

Hi Albert,

I remember a thread about this from a few weeks ago. Just a few questions. 1. Why are you using coco-peat? Peat in any form will use up most of the available oxygen in an enclosed space, and these seeds need a lot of oxygen when geminating. Peat also gives off carbon dioxide when its breaking down, especially at higher temperatures, and this can suffocate sensitive seeds. You would be much better off with just pure perlite to get them going, as I have great success with this species using that method. 2. What temperatures are the seeds experiencing? They should not be allowed to go below 19°C [66°F] or much over 30°C [86°F], as this will affect germination. Are you also allowing some fresh air into the bag each day as I suggested in the older post? 3. Are your seeds still firm, and healthy looking? 4. How wet were they when you put them in a container?

If you followed all the instructions from the older thread, and the seeds were fresh, they should all have germinated by now. Is there anything that you have done differently besides growing them in coco-peat that might have affected them?

Regards,

Neil

Hi...just joined the forum today....I'm looking for alocasia, colocasia and musa seeds....does anyone have troys website? seems like a great guy to get seeds from...thanks, Brent :)

Troy's website is www.sumatraflora.com
I got an email from Troy and he informed me that the batch of A. robusta seeds we have been having trouble with seems to be a bad batch because the seeds from the same batch that he was trying to germinate did not come up either.

So we'll have to wait until he gets a better batch of seeds.

LariAnn

Here is a link that might be useful: Troy's website

Thanks for the info lari ann....do you have an idea when the Alocasia and Colocasia seeds usually are available from his site? Thanks again, Brent :)

Hi Brent,
Troy send me an email that he is in Borneo at this moment and will be back the end of july.
Hopefully he will bring back fresh seeds of Alocasia robusta and other interesting things. Some days ago I received nice plants of Alocasia maccr. Variegata and Colocasia gigantea from him. They will regrow very quickly I think.

Cheers, Albert

Thanks Albert...I have 500 seeds of Alocasia Robusta waiting for me at Malensiana Tropicals in Malaysia....just waiting for the money transfer there....but I'd love to get some Colocasia gigantea seeds though...how big do these plants get? Thanks, Brent :)

So the bulbs (ALOCASIA MACRORRHIZA) that were sent to me in a paper bag (via-ebay auction) are dead? Im passed 3 weeks and nada...

Is Troy still in business? that web site sumatraflora.com does not work.

There's a considerable difference between seeds and bulbs. Your bulbs should be just fine.