I have copied this from another site and have included a link to the entire article below.

You may be able to buy seeds through the mail, collect them in the woods, or get seeds in early fall from a friend whose Jack in the Pulpit has ripe red berries. Remove the red flesh and plant the seeds immediately; don't let them dry out. Sow the seed outdoors where you want the plants to grow, covering the seeds with ¼ to ½ inch of soil. Seedlings should come up in early spring. Another method is to refrigerate freshly cleaned seeds in a plastic bag with some moist sand or potting soil for six weeks, then sow the seed in pots. In spring, plant the seedlings outdoors. Once plants become established in a favorable site, they are likely to self-seed.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Jack in the Pulpit info

So now for the big question: does anyone have Jack in the Pulpit who would be willing to trade some seeds this Fall? My Grandmother always had these in her gardens, and I remember, as a child, thinking they were soooo cool. When she passed a few years ago, I managed to get a couple of things out of her garden & transfer to mine, but not those.

Or am I making this too complicated - are they available at local nurseries?

Ilsa

I found some seeds at ebay so I am going to plant these outside and see if they grow.Wish me luck.Thanks

Paula

in my limited experience, they've been easy-squeezy to germinate and heartbreakingly tough to keep alive. the ones i germinated last year just needed some warmth to get going. i found that the ones i cold-stratified (WS outdoors) did worse than the ones i started indoors using a plain old heat mat.

general consensus seems to be that the best germination happens with the freshest seed, so i say start seeds as soon as you get your hands on them ... and try to get your hands on seeds in the fall when seedpods are ripe.

but check over on the aroid forum -- there are seasoned J-i-t-P pros on there who can give better advice. as for me, i'm pretending the ones i planted out last year are still dormant, but i think they all probably croaked. sigh.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:384267}}

I grew JitP last year from seed and had terrific success. I swear every one of them germinated. Of course I grew them in my WS containers - just to be a control freak ;-). They do direct sow readily however. I sowed them in mid-April from berries that I had saved uncleaned from the autumn before. I learned later that you should wear gloves to clean the berries as they contain a substance that can be irritating. Fortunately I cleaned mine under water and suffered no ill effects.

Ilsa - I will send you some in the fall if you like.

Deb

cloud9 -- are the ones you germinated last year up this year?

i know arisaemas (arisaemae?) go dormant & i was prepared for them to vanish last fall but now i can't figure out if i lost them all or if they're still just napping.

thank you for any advice and apologies for the thread hijack.

Paula,
I gave away JIP seed last fall here on the gardenweb, and may have some this fall also. If they are picked fresh, washed very clean (the berry pulp has a germination inhibitor in it), and planted in moist soil, they generally give good results. Fall sowing outside is probably the best method for them, but WS should be fine also. First year, you get only a single heart-shaped leaf, and it takes about 3-4 years to bloom. They are a very strange plant and change sex as they get larger. Most of the seedlings stay male for several years till they get large enough to change to female, so don't expect fruit spikes for several more years.

George

George,Will you put me down for a trade for some of these this fall?I have never had these and this yr.I am going to try sowing only new to me things.Thanks
moonphase

I'm trying a lot of new things this year, so I'm not sure what kind of seeds I'll have this Fall, but as it gets closer to time, I'll post my list. Hopefully I'll have something that you're interested in.

Ilsa

Marie, I'm zone 6, & mine have just come up in the last few days. Give yours some time. I wintersowed mine the first year I WSed, got decent germination, but no blooms til last year (year 4 I think)

So would it be ok to plant the seeds I have now or wait until fal to plant them. And what about the seeds having to be fresh whe planted if I wait until fall will the seeds will still be fresh? Thanks

Paula

Plant them now, they don't need to be stratified, so you should get decent germination. It's probably best to sow them in a pot (or milk jug) outside so you can baby them the first season. The seedlings hate to be disturbed while in growth, so leave it until the plants start to die down in late summer and plant out the whole clump in one piece. (You can divide the bulbs and replant them next fall when they are larger.)

thank you ngraham for the hand-holding! i planted out about ten healthy-looking wee buggers last summer & put little wire wastebaskets over them so the squirrels couldn't disturb them. they got bigger & then vanished last fall, which i'd heard they'd do, but they haven't reappeared. i feel silly staring at little wire wastebaskets every day ... but you've given me hope. thanks a million!

Marie,
They only came up here a bit over a week ago, my journal says I saw the first ones on April 23, so they should be coming soon there. Look for a single, 3-part leaf out of a tiny little pointed tip. The little ones seem to jump up overnight.

George

My seedlings from last year just came up today. The big ones in various parts of my garden have appeared instantly also.

I had taken one jug of sprouts, split them up and given them away at the CT plant swap - I hope they made it for everyone since they weren't happy being transplanted. They really don't look like JitP as sprouts. I had to pull one up and see the seed to be sure. Then I started wondering how many I have weeded!

pretty sure i found five eensy JitPs peeking out. hip-hip-hooray!

many thanks for the encouraging words, y'all.

I hope I did the right thing. I just tossed the seeds where I wanted the plants to grow instead of "babing" them and starting them in jugs. I figured I will copy mother nature and see what happens in about 2-3 years and see if they are poping up.

Paula

I got some of Deb's seedlings last year at our CT plant swap, and they are coming up this year, as of about 3 days ago. Luckily mine were still in the pots she gave me, so I knew what they were! Looking forward to seeing them grow!

:)
Dee

I am playing with Jack in the Pulpit seeds this Spring.

My first batch (about 60) germinated fine in wet paper towels, about 75%. Then tragedy, overwatered in seed starter mix, I managed to drown them all. So sad.

Second batch are in process, 69 seeds, 40 germinated so far. Planted only half buried with the root pointing down on top of Jiffy pellets. Taking GREAT care not to drown them.
20 of them have one leaf and the other 20 look good, except 4 which are definitely sick.
I was waiting for the one leaves to turn into three, but now I read that one is all you get in the first year.

I have another 40 seeds on order, just in case, however, now by the time they arrive I hope to be a pro.

In my woods are plenty of lovely Jack in the Pulpit plants in bloom. All have three leaflet leaves. Many with the pulpit holding the jack. Just lovely, so delicate.

Nowhere in my woods, and I have looked a lot, do I see the single leaf plants. The wild plants seem to spread by underground connectors, so they are grouped in clusters, all with triple leaflets.

Last year I saw one bright red berry/seed cob. That is what got me going. However it disappeared one night. I think it was eaten.

Hugh Tornabene (Maryland)