Stacy, you might find others more experienced in this particular plant in the Herbalism Forum. This forum is dedicated to culinary herbs.

Aside from that, I did a quickie search on the subject and found several websites relating to seed germination of mandrake. The one that I skimmed indicated that the seeds should be fresh and that they are collected in the spring/summer after the fruit ripens. Germination rate can be anywhere from 8-12 months or more.

Even though the posts are largely about culinary herbs, this forum is for the growing of all herbs - medicinal, dyeing, utilitarian, etc. included. The Herbalism forum generally focuses only on the usage of medicinal herbs and is a low volume forum so it may not be very helpful.

I've grow more medicinals than culinary herbs but have never tried growing mandrake. Outside of the herbs that are just too useful like lemon balm, calendula, etc., I stick to North American natives and mandrake isn't one of those. :) I have read it is a challenge to start from seed. Check out Horizon Herbs page on it which includes seed starting instructions.

FataMorgana

Here is a link that might be useful: Horizon herbs

I decided to do the cold-water stratification for two weeks and then plant them. I only did this for three seeds, I'm still not sure about the other two. I'll keep you updated about the progress.

Thanks for the info!

Stacy

Hi,
I just started my Mandrakes as well. I bought both types - Mandragora officinalis and Mandragora Autumnalis, as Richo from Horizon Herbs thinks that the Autumnalis will do better here in my colder temps. Mandrake is good to about 20 degrees F, according to him. Since Mandrake is a wild plant, it doesn't germinate all at once, it can take more than a year. What we have to do is to replicate the wild plant germination process. Mandrake produces a fruit, to be eaten by creatures, so we'll need duplicate that digestive tract journey - I did it by using worm castings. My first step is to soak the seeds in a nice germination-encouraging bath. What I'm using is a mix of liquid kelp concentrate 1 teaspoon to a cup of water, earthworm castings, 1 scoop per 3 scoops of water, and I'm also soaking the sprouted roots from potatoes and using that water. This sounds confusing, but I'm basically taking 1 cup of water from the soaked potato peel jar and adding a scoop of worm castings, and a teaspoon of liquid kelp. The sprouting rootlets from potatoes are giving off a growth enzyme, so I'm using that. I change the water and rinse the seeds every day. I'll be doing that for 2 weeks. I don't know if you know this, but many people soak willow branches in water until they start rooting, and then use that water for a rootlet growing hormone. I'm doing the same thing with potatoes. I have well water, so there is no chlorine or other chemicals to inhibit the Mandrakes' growth.
I also bought some grow bags in different sizes and lengths. I can plant the Mandrakes into these bags so their roots can develop. I suspect I will be moving these plants into the basement for the winter, as I think my selected growing site will still be too cold for them. Mandrake also likes a quick draining soil, so I'll probably be using a cactus mix or perhaps a blend of some sort.
Oh, I have been doing this for a few days now, and I know it's working because I made the mistake of putting the used plant broth onto a prayer plant cutting, and it quit being happy and started to give up the ghost. I rinsed the soil quite well and gave it a dash of fertilizer and now it's happy again.

I bought 'fresh' seeds from Washington state in the fall some years ago.

It's not that difficult. Keep soil moist and beneath some mild daylight and it will grow. The trick is patience after they sprout as well as before. Emulate forests-- keep up the moisture and the mild day light.... These guys grow slowly. They look like edible greens but are far from it so they need a special spot.
During the summer they get all upset... keep parameters optimal even if they look like they are dying and have patience.

This post was edited by bardamu on Mon, Feb 9, 15 at 0:54

bardamu_gw, how are your Mandrakes doing now?

Well, I'm all for educating the kids about what is right and wrong, but mandrake just looks too much like spinach to me, which I grow a lot of, so it needed a really special spot away from kids. I have a three year old that loves to nibble on greens from the garden, and now clover growing just outside of the raised beds.. I just don't have that safe spot for mandrake, and I don't want to scare the kids about 'staying away' from a spot in the yard. It took a long time for me to finally give in to anxiety, and my front and back yard just doesn't have enough room for something like this. Maybe in a few years I'll grow them again if I still feel that inclination. Until then I'll have to live vicariously through your mandrake experience, gnomeinplaid :)

Method 1. Soak the seeds in water on the fridge for about 2 weeks. Change water daily. They will sprout in 20-40 days. With 50-60% of success

Method 2. Soak the seeds in water and add GA3 solucion 150ppm. Keep soaking for about 12-24hrs. They will sprout 20-40 days with almost 80% of success