Not sure if it matters but mine germinated in darkness since they were covered with soil.

I germinated mine under lights with bottom heat. My success rate was about 35%. Oh, and it was Moso for me.

Thanks for the info kaimiike.I have mine under lights with timer set for 6 hours.I know some bonsai tree seeds I started were to be in dark,some in full light.Maybe I should set timer for 12 hours.

I did mine for twelve hours.

i had great success rate using the salad bowls from wendy's on top of the water heater. like a little greenhouse with very little light what was hard was translplanting them... lost a few.

i have mine in plastic trays with clear plastic wrap over top,i'll have to start eating at wendy's.

I started mine in peat pellets. I never could get them to germinate when using a heating pad, but I had a number germinate without one. Including one that germinated in a pot with no light or water for a few months. (I had a left over seed, stuck it in the pot and forgot about it.)

All of the seed that I have germinated have been done at ambient household temp of 78 degrees wtih no bottom heat or external lighting. Use a 50/50 peat/perlite mix moistened till you can barely squeeze ater out, plant the seed and cover with clear plastic wrap. I had moso germinate within 4 days using this method.

thanks webgator,glad your doing good with yours.i'm using that mixture but my temp has been 72 i'll try turning up the temp and see what happens.

I get my Lako 80% successful under light.

Funny, as someone else pointed out in previous posts, the Lako and the Betung Hitam may be the same seed, maybe even Strictus.

Last year when my Moso and Strictus germinated there were considerable differences. I see no difference in the way these two look.

Guess I'll find out in about 3 to 5 years.

Hi there,

My Bamboo seeds arrived here in the middle of winter so I had to use bottom heat (25 deg Centagrade) and fluros.

I used perlite and sand (50/50) and placed 1/2 of the seeds on top of the mix and buried the rest, About 1000 seeds altogether.
The germination results were the same about 20% for D.Strictus, and 80% for Lako and Betung hitam.
The plants that grew from the seeds that were not buried tended to be smaller than those buried.Maybe because they had to put more energy in to the root systems, as the root crawled around the surface a bit before digging down in to the mix.

Like webgator my Lako and the Betung Hitam seeds looked similar but the plant leaves are a lighter green than strictus. The growth rated is slightly infavour of the Hitam tray, but Ill guess ill be waiting a while before I find out.

FATS

I tend to try to mimic what happens naturally, so they get fluorescent light in the day.

after 4 weeks of experimentation with heteroclada[water bamboo]seeds and different germination styles, i'm getting seedlings.the first to sprout were placed in a wet papper towel in a ziplock baggie in the fridge for a week,then planted in 50/50 mix with bottom heat.getting nice sprouts from them.some seeds planted other ways are starting to sprout,some have done nothing.seeds near the surface are sprouting more than ones planted deeper.still have more to learn,and more seeds to plant.

Interesting seeing all the ways to be sucessful with seed. In "Taming the Dragon", by Whittaker, he writes that cold is sometimes necessary to open the husk. So wet paper towel in a ziplock baggie in the fridge" might be a good idea with (I suppose), mountain species. Here's a quote from the book: "Sow the seeds immediately after collection on the surface of free-draining compost and lightly cover them with fine grit or sharp sand. Place the sowings in a cool position, out of direct sunlight, either in a greenhouse or outdoors under netting for shade and protection against birds and vermin. Keep seedlings weed free and water only when the pot or tray feels light. Some species germinate immediately and others can take more than a year, so be patient."

yes SeattleBoo,learning is half the fun.once i find the most successful way to germinate i'll have all winter to find the best way to keep them alive and growing till transplanting out doors in the spring

I am a first time bamboo seed planter and I planted Moso seeds 3 different ways to experiment. Some in 100% perlite, inside, in west window, some in 75% potting soil/ 25% perlite, outside and the rest in layers 25% black cow, 25% potting soil, 25% peat and topped off with 25% perlite inside also in west window. After a couple of days the two inside started sprouting and after about 10 days the ones outside started too. So far germination rate has been about the same no matter which method. Time will tell.