Hi Ladies, I thought I had better give you an update on my one and only seed that has shown some life. It has grown quite a bit and the seed would not drop off. It was very hard and I had to take it off the top of the little leaves. Since then, they are just so happy and growing. No sign of life on the other #1 or #2 or any others on #3.

So far I am a total failure on getting the six seeds I planted to germinate

Your seed looks good, JB !

I think it is early for them to germinate.

I signed up just to post here. I am also experimenting on my own looking for help. I bought seeds on eBay for the sweet shrub red one and the green Athens one. I wanted to join in as well.

I bought the seeds around March 6 and started around March 10 or so. My dates are slightly off. I first nicked the seeds with my nail clipper and filed the seeds down with a nail filer. I then soaked them over night and up to 24hrs. I then took off the outer coating and thin layer skin around the embryo. I put the, in between a paper towel damped with warm water and in they went into a sealed ziplock bag. I placed them in a cool area on my china hutch so my 2 yr old son couldn't get to them. (Also noticed warm places makes them moldy and soggy so I don't like warm places but for peppers I do) in about 2 weeks the tap roots emerged I planted in seed started miracle gro soil in 4 inch jiffy pots. It has almost been 2 weeks now and they are doing well so far. I don't have a green house nor a green thumb. Heck, I don't even know what I am doing. I am a beginner novice who likes to garden starting from seeds.my plants grow as my son grows.

My jiffy pots are string on the concrete cement floor in my backyard near my sliding door so I can look at them everyday.

It has almost been 1 month since I started my experiment. Here are pictures to share that I just went out to take.

I also bought a Venus plant on amazon since I couldn't get seeds. It's about 1 foot tall now. Also bought an Aphrodite? Red one as well also is 1foot tall.





If you do not mind, I would like to join in and post.

Seems to me you know what your are doing !! What great success you had ! I think I should have nicked mine and soaked them longer then I did.

I would love to hear about your experiences with these seeds ! JB is in charge of this experiment.

to ATP. I doubt you will want to stay on this thread because we are not very chatty. The Seed Forum has many great threads that would no doubt give you more of what you are looking for than here.

We are actually doing an experiment, not socializing and I don't want you to think we do not want you or care what you are doing. I would love to have you hang out if you want to see what is going on but I will not guarantee I will be of any help. I have no clue what I am doing. I merely supplied these six ladies the seeds so they could help me determine if they were going to germinate.
and document our findings for the future. I came here for help because I do not do seeds, I propagate from cuttings and leaves, not seeds. The plants where the seeds came from are here on our farm.

I have no problem with you asking questions or just lurking to gather information...honestly....I just do not want you to think we are anti social. We only pop in when something happens to the seeds or to ask a question of one of the people doing the experiment. Please feel free to hang out ..just do not expect too much from me....I can not speak for the others.

By the way, your seedlings (I guess that is what you call them) look great. I would love to keep in touch and see your mature plants. Why don't you start a new thread in the Seeds Forum so we can chat about them or maybe one of the ladies on here could suggest something else. HELP! Maybe the moderator (if we have one) could help us out here so we can find you the perfect place to share your information. You are much more advanced than I am at this point.

Thanks. I have been researching and digging for more info on these fragrant shrubs but there isn't much detail. The more difficult the more intrigued I am. Sweet shrubs caught my attention. I was afraid I wouldn't do well with the seeds, that's why I bought the plants as well.
red
white

As for watering, my son goes crazy with his watering pail. The soil is always damp and wet. We try to water them every other day or three days. I know that they are getting too much water but I can't say no to my son. He wants to help in the garden. I just have a long driveway so not much to work with.

Oh also they are getting filtered sun. There is a thingy tarp green shield cover that filter the sun for my plants. I want to give them full sun but am too scared they will wilt since they are still babies. I think the sun will help them grow though.

I was thinking I should split them up. Some in sun and some in filtered sun. What do u guys think?

Keep in mind that seedlings that are kept too wet can develope a damping off disease which will kill them. That said they sure look good. Always fun to try putting half in sun and half in filtered sun. Best way to learn what works well !

@JB - We may have to split this into two threads for this chit chat??

I'm checking in to say that none of mine have shown signs of life yet.

Hello and Welcome Blankspace

@Onewish1 - Allison, can you help us out here please. We do not want to turn people away who want to learn about Sweetshubs yet we do not want to clutter the experimental information with the chatter. Would you suggest we start a thread for Sweetshrub Seeds Discussion thread where others who want to talk about or ask questions about the Experiment or who are doing their own experimenting can ask questions, here on the seeds forum. I do not want to turn people away from here if they are trying to learn as we are. Yet I do not want to be adding threads that would not be welcome by others.

Here is my #2 seed and the plant it came from was also #2. Michael Lindsey is the only one not showing signs of life.



As soon as it gets a bit warmer I am going to check the wintersowing containers that have been outside in the weather all winter.

How big do I let the first one get before I need to move it to a pot of its own?

I know I should wait until the little guy actual shows above the soil, but I was so excited I had to share.
Today I have my first sign of life. It is in batch #2. Too soon for a photo, but I will be watching closely.

I think that is just wonderful Greene. I need to look at the ones I have outside but I did not want to take the lids off for fear the neighbor's chickens would mess with them. Those chickens are not my favorite birds when they start with my plants. Today is nice and warm and sunny. Things will start to happen now.

it's always good to keep one thread per topic.. Dave likes to keep things organized.. you can chat in here about sweet shrubs as well as discuss results

Yesterday I posted that there was a small sign of life from a seed. It was in batch #2

Here is the cute little thing.


Just to be sure, I checked one more time and - surprise!
Another seed from batch #2 is also showing just a tiny bit.

It looks like the seeds are really starting to sprout. Congratulations.
Unfortunately a tray with some of mine got turned over by a greenhouse invader, but my original plant is still in there, growing slowly, but still growing.

I wonder how long it will be before we see the results from the wintersowing ones.

Update on my two little seedlings from batch #2 - Here they are today.


All the Sweet Shrub seeds were sown in damp vermiculite in the 'mini-greenhouse' I learned from Rising Creek over on Cubits. These containers were left out in the winter weather, so it's a modified version of winter sowing.

very nice!!