Baobab seed pre treatment

[Tina]

Does any one pre treat these seeds, saw an insta clip, they were scarified on an end, chap then boiled for 7-8 mins and kept them in warm water for a few days.
I'm sure I grew a few years ago with no pre treatment, roughing up the oputer seed shell might be helpful if they are old dried seeds

[ralphrmartin]

I sowed some seed earlier this year, and got 2 plants from 5 seeds without pretreatment. I don't know where I would find space for 5 baobabs, anyway.

[Tina]

Thanks Ralph,
the pre treatment did seem extreme, at the end he even removed the seed covering.

[Herts Mike]

I soaked mine for a day and got 3 out of 5. One faded away and of the other 2, one has dropped it’s leaves and the other still has them all.
Not sure of winter treatment but keeping the one without leaves dry and a little water for the other one.

[Chris43]

My son germinated 4 out of 6. After reading a whole variety of claims, he simpy sanded down one side of each seed and then soaked them for 24 hrs before sowing in damp compost.

[Aiko]

Depends probably what kind of baobab we are talking. Multiple species can be called baobab, although maybe just one might be the 'real' babobab.
But when I sowed Ceiba insignis (so no Adansonia) in 2010, I got probably about a 100% germination. Just sowed them as I did with about anything else, so nothing special.
They are now starting to look like little threes.

[Herts Mike]

Adansonia digitata mine

[Tina]

Thanks chaps.

Adansonia digitata

mine too, I'll get the emery board out then

[Herts Mike]

I didn’t need to.

[TomInTucson]

Like a number of species with hard seed coats, such as Delonix, Parkinsonia, Acacia, etc., scarification permits faster water penetration. This results in quicker germination. So it all depends on how soon you want the roots to develop. If you start sowing at the beginning of the growing season, it is not as important to use pre-treatment techniques. For smaller seeds, I like to use this bonsai tool (knob cutter) to hasten germination: