BCSS - Forum

I've recently acquired some seeds from this species, should I leave sowing till autumn? or will they grow in my coolish NW facing, darkened room if I sow them now?

BryanW wrote:I've recently acquired some seeds from this species, should I leave sowing till autumn? or will they grow in my coolish NW facing, darkened room if I sow them now?

In the Succulenta seed list it is adviced to sow this species in the dark.
I haven't tried that myself, but at the same time have had very moderate success with this species. I only have two small seedlings at this moment. Sowed those in spring one or two years ago, but have not germinated. I restarted the pots last autumn, which resulted in two seedlings. The leaves are still there, so I keep on watering.

You could sow them in spring. But now is probably a bit too late, as it gets warmer compared to late March. Probably better to wait for September. But that also depends on your sowing conditions (in a greenhouse?).

I've sown several dioscorea species (none of them in the dark tho) but had less than moderate success. Only d. elephantipes seed was successful, the rest gave 0 germination so I gave up.

Aiko wrote: that also depends on your sowing conditions (in a greenhouse?).

I can either sow outside or inside but no real greenhouse, just a plastic covered 4 tier mini greenhouse, an LED grow-box or the darkened room (not totally dark).

PS seeds I have are Dioscorea testudinaria elephantipes

You might try soaking seeds for a few hours before sowing - it worked for me. I've now grown 6 or 7 Dioscorea species from seed, using the 'baggie' method. Warmth seems to help.
Mike

Hi Mike, was there any preference to light exposure?

I've had success with a few species, 3 I think, and just did my normal thing - so they were in pots that got light. The seed were probably fairly well covered with grit but I expect the light got through.

The currently accepted name is Dioscorea elephantipes. Dioscorea is a large genus including yams among numerous others, it was named after Dioscorides, an ancient Greek biologist. For many years the species with large caudexes, often with a prominent pattern of "lumps" on the surface (like elephatipes) were in a separate genus Testudinaria. This was named for their similarity to tortoises. You can legitimately use either genus name but Dioscorea is the norm these days.
Cheers
David Lambie

I just need to wait 79 years before mine look like this:

Hi
I have had discorea seed germinate a year later when I reused the tray of soil, luckily I had left in the old label.
Also with my d.elephantipes seedlings I have had further germination over the last 2 or 3 years. I didn't pot individually just potted them into a large pan. They seem to lift up naturally as they grow.

Or put it in a big container that catches all the leaves

as my female plant is in a 30 cm pan that is not an option.

I have managed to set some hybrid seed with my female d.elephantopes X d.sylvatica, which will be interesting if they germinate. I only pulled off a few d.sylvatica flowers and wiggled them at my female plants flowers so fingers crossed.

Mike wrote:You might try soaking seeds for a few hours before sowing - it worked for me. I've now grown 6 or 7 Dioscorea species from seed, using the 'baggie' method. Warmth seems to help.
Mike

I'll give it a go with 50% of the seeds and try the other 50% without a bag (as per D^L)

D^L wrote:I've had success with a few species, 3 I think, and just did my normal thing - so they were in pots that got light. The seed were probably fairly well covered with grit but I expect the light got through.

The currently accepted name is Dioscorea elephantipes.. For many years the species with large caudexes, often with a prominent pattern of "lumps" on the surface (like elephatipes) were in a separate genus Testudinaria. This was named for their similarity to tortoises. You can legitimately use either genus name but Dioscorea is the norm these days.

Thats good to know David, it will save me having to widen the name column on my spreadsheet