Hello. I bought two new guinea creeper (Mucuna bennettii) seeds from the wild animal park's plant trader. I had no idea how to germinate them, but thought that I could look it up on the internet when I got home. I searched all over on the internt and could not find anything that said how to germinate them, so I tried scarifying it by rubbing them on the ground (like you do to a lotus seed) and then stuck it in a cup of water for several days until I saw it start to swell and crack the shell open. I then planted it half way into normal garden soil, but in a few days, it has started to rot. Was I doing this correctly? Please advise me on how to germinate them properly. Thank you!

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: popper1 (My Page) on Wed, Oct 1, 08 at 6:50

I wouldn't soak them that long. Rub them on sandpaperto just scratch the seed & then soak in warm water overnight. Plant in a free draining mix. Keep moist and warm.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: bihai zone 9 (My Page) on Wed, Oct 1, 08 at 6:50

I got seeds from my green jade vine (Emerald Creeper) this season, and I emailed Fairchild Gardens in Miami to ask how to plant them. The recommended not trying to do any soaking or scarifying or anything like that, simply to plant them halfway on the flat side (they are huge seeds) into loose soil with only half the seed in the soil. You might try this method for the Mucuna seeds as they are similar.

I did not germinate these seeds myself, I traded them all away.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: aroideana Tropical Australia (My Page) on Wed, Oct 1, 08 at 19:17

Large tropical seeds usually need no treatment , and also have very short viability periods . I have grown the 'Flame of the Forest' and the 'Jade Vine' from seeds . Just as Gina said , easily sown pushed half into ordinary media , and jump back .
There is an enormous Mucuna bennetii flowering away at the park in town here , literally millions of flowers , and it has been putting on a fantastic show for weeks and weeks now.
The ground will be covered in seeds soon .

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: bihai zone 9 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 2, 08 at 7:16

Aroideana,
my Mucuna bennettii is still "young". It covers a trellis and has spread probably 20 feet out with many leads over the greenhouse wall. How large (or how old) do they have to be before they will bloom? Do they take as long as Green Jade? I didn't get blooms on my Green Jades until they were about 3-4 years old, but since then they have bloomed like clockwork twice a season for the past 3 years

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: aroideana Tropical Australia (My Page) on Thu, Oct 2, 08 at 17:28

From what I have heard , the M.bennettii is more tropical then the Jade Vine , and also need to get a bit bigger . The lianes hanging down are enormous , and I have heard of massive trees brought down by the sheer weight of this climber. It also needs lots of water , a seedling planted at a tourist attraction up here was sown at the edge of a man made creek .It quickly grew a stem nearly 2" thick .
As it flowers on old wood I imagine it could be kept controlled Gina , otherwise it may take over your growing area.
I have just had a request for seed I replied to bounce back .
Please no more requests for seed , it is just to difficult to send , especially overseas .And express postage from Australia is now $50 so I simply cannot afford to be that generous .

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: killgriff07 zone 9 (My Page) on Thu, Oct 2, 08 at 18:34

Thank you everyone for the information. I will try to get some more seeds from the Wild Animal Park and then I will try your suggestions for germination.

Aroideana, where did you get your seeds for the jade vine? I really would like to grow the "green" jade vine also, but cannot afford to buy a whole plant. I would really like to find where to get the seed. I also know that they have bad germination rates, but I think it would be cheeper to buy several seeds than a live plant.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: aroideana Tropical Australia (My Page) on Fri, Oct 3, 08 at 3:48

I was just lucky and had lots of seed set on the old vine at the nursery I was working at the time . Its not very common for them to set seed , good luck finding some . Cuttings are very readily available around here now , as cheap as Au.$6 sometimes.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: bihai zone 9 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 3, 08 at 6:44

I am surprised you haven't replied to my past ads for trades on green and red jade vines. But then that's common. Everyone wants it but few try to trade for it. There is an eBay seller who has Red Jade available a lot, he has one now, if you search.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: karyn1 MD 7 (bhkalen@aol.com) on Fri, Oct 3, 08 at 8:00

Zone 9 Tropicals has the green jade vines in gallon pots for $30. He sometimes has smaller ones in qt containers for even less and they are big healthy plants.
Karyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Zone 9 Tropicals

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: killgriff07 zone 9 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 3, 08 at 9:57

aroideana-I would love to find cuttings around here, but the cheapest is around $30 like karyn1 said.

bihai-I normally don't look for trades on gardenweb. I am also a member of davesgarden.com and I do my trading through there. If you get more of the green jade vine, I would love to set up a trade. You can email me at killgriff08@gmail.com. Thanks

karyn1- Thank you for the link. If I can't find it anywhere else for a better price, I will probably buy from them.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: bihai zone 9 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 3, 08 at 20:03

Oh, okay. Well, I probably won't save the addy, I post trades as they come up (here and on FL gardenweb exchange) and if they get takers fine, if not, also fine, I always manage to trade them somewhere on (or off) Gardenweb, but I am not on Davesgardens

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: killgriff07 zone 9 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 3, 08 at 20:10

We could set up a trade without being on davesgarden, I was just explaining why I didn't see your previous trades for it.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: barna_ 6 Hun (My Page) on Sun, Oct 19, 08 at 5:35

Hello. I am searching for Mucuna bennettii and Dalechampia dioscoreifolia seed. I can not find source on the internet. Could anybody let me know where I can buy some, please?

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: killgriff07 zone 9b So-Cal (My Page) on Sun, Oct 19, 08 at 18:19

There is someone in Austrailia on ebay selling 4 Mucuna bennettii seeds. here's a link.
I could not find any Dalechampia discoreifolia seeds anywhere! There was one person on davesgarden.com that has seeds available for trade, but they are in South Africa. To contact that person, you would have to be a member of davesgarden (sign up is free) and you would have to email them to set up a trade or arrange to buy them. Here's the link if you want to give it a try.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: buttoneer z6PA (My Page) on Thu, Mar 19, 09 at 23:10

I am germinating one of these seeds right now. I did nick the seedcoat, soaked in warm water, changing the water 3-4X a day. Then when it cracked open, I put it in a moist paper towel inside a plastic ziploc bag in a place where it is warm. The plant stuck a root out but looked like it was going to mold, so I washed it off really good and dipped the root end into rooting hormone. Planted it halfway in & after several days, lifted the seed & it had branching roots on the bottom so I must have been doing something right.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: buttoneer z6PA (My Page) on Mon, Mar 30, 09 at 10:29

Seed grew a root & is now planted in inside the house keeping it warm until it comes up.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: sultry_jasmine_night Florida z9 (My Page) on Mon, Mar 30, 09 at 20:57

I just sprouted some of the mucuna nigricans seeds. They look sort of like black beans. I planted 2 and they both came up, I just soaked them overnight prior. I have one left I guess I should plant it if the viablility is short.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: killgriff07 zone 9b So-Cal (My Page) on Sat, Apr 4, 09 at 23:27

I am trying mine again that I got from the Wild Animal Park again. I'll see how they do this time. Thanks for all of your help!

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: farang9 Thailand (My Page) on Sat, Jul 25, 09 at 21:36

I bought "Mucuna bennettii" seed from B+T. After five years they flowered. Instead of the spectacular orange chain I had expected, I got small, dirty mauve flowers in singletons - Mucuna pruriens. BEWARE! If anyone knows a source of true M. bennettii (not Ebay - I have had unfortunate experience with Paypal) I would be grateful for the information.

RE: Mucuna bennettii seed

• Posted by: bihai zone 9 (My Page) on Sun, Jul 26, 09 at 8:05

I sprouted a M. nigricans seed and it has grown to over 2 feet in less than a week and a half.

I am still waiting for the M. sloanii seed to sprout

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