Agrotechnics for Growing Lianas from Seeds

How to sow and grow clematis, morning glory, grapes, and other climbing plants: supports, pruning, and care.

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Liana seeds

Important!

Seeds that have passed stratification, we send wet in perlite, and if you received dry seeds (without perlite), which means that they have not passed stratification and you, if it is required for seeds, need to stratify!

Seeds require a three-stage stratification process: I at 18-20°C for 2 months, II at 3-5°C for 2 months, and III at 13-15°C for 1 month. Germination occurs during the last stage. Sowing to a depth of 0.5-1 cm.
Planting of actinidia can be carried out both in autumn (before the first frost) and in spring - the latter is preferable.
The position of the planting site should be selected carefully. Remember that it prefers fertile soil that is permeable to moisture and air, but does not like high groundwater levels. The actinidia plant thrives well next to buildings and fences on their southern side, but it is better to protect young trees from the open sun. As the tree ages, it will like direct sunlight.
In the first decade of December, the planting material is soaked for four days so that above the seeds there is about two centimetres of water, which is changed daily with fresh water. The actinidia seeds are then placed in a capron stocking and lowered into a box with damp sand.
The box should be kept in a room with an air temperature of 18-20 ºC. Every week, remove the stocking with the seeds from the sand and air it out for a few minutes, then wash the seeds under running water without removing them from the stocking, gently squeeze them out and dip the stocking into the damp sand again. It is important that the seeds do not dry out. In January, wrap the box with the sand and the planting material in the stocking in a cloth and bury it in deep snow for two months. If there is no snow, place the box in the refrigerator instead of one of the vegetable containers. After two months, take the seeds out of the refrigerator and place them in a place that maintains a temperature of 10-12 ºC, no higher, so that the seeds will not go into dormancy after being stratified in the cold, once they have been exposed to the relative heat. Continue to wash and aerate the stocking weekly as you did before stratification and once you have discovered that some of the seeds have sprouted, plant them all in containers with a mixture of river sand and sod soil and work them in to a depth of half a centimetre. The seedlings should be sprinkled regularly and protected from direct sunlight, and in mid-June, when they have developed 3-4 true leaves, they should be transplanted to the greenhouse. The seedlings will flower for the first time in three to five years, at which time the sex can be determined and then transplanted to a permanent location.

Three-stage stratification is recommended: I at 18-20° for 1 month, II at 3-5° for 1 month and III at 8-10° for 1 month. Under these conditions, seed germination reaches 80-90 %.
To make the lemongrass seeds sprout, they need to be prepared and subjected to a stratification process.
The best results are obtained by storing berries picked in autumn in one piece without peeling seeds from the pulp. In early January, the Chinese lemongrass seeds are cleaned from the pulp and the rest of the pulp is thoroughly washed off with water. The rinsed seeds are immersed completely in cold water, which should be changed several times a day. The soaking process continues for four days. During this time, the sand should be prepared and first washed and then well heated. The seeds are buried in it by placing them in a kapron cloth. The box with the sand and the seeds is kept warm for thirty days at 20 degrees. After that, it is taken out into the garden and buried in a thick layer of snow. The seeds should also spend thirty days in the snow. After the period in the cold, the box with the lemongrass seeds should be kept for 10 - 14 days in a cool place, at a temperature no higher than 10 degrees. As a result of such preparation, the hard shell of the seeds begins to crack, which facilitates germination. Special boxes or containers are prepared for sowing.
To fill them, one part sand is mixed with one part humus. The seeds are placed on the surface, then covered with a layer of soil half a centimetre thick. Moisten everything well, and keep it covered with a sheet of paper in order to maintain the moisture regime. If watered daily, the first shoots should appear in 10 to 12 days. During the germination period, the seeds and sprouts are susceptible to fungal diseases; to prevent infection, one to two sprays of pink manganese solution should be applied. The first germinating leaves of lemongrass are similar to cucumber sprouts, when the fourth to fifth true leaves appear, seedlings are piked either in separate containers or in a general box at a distance of not less than five cm from each other. The seedlings will be planted in early June. It is important to remember that during the first three to four years, the lemongrass does not tolerate direct sunlight and should preferably be sheltered from it. Also, as it grows, it will need a vertical support, otherwise the seedling will start to bush and give numerous root shoots and will not flower. Seeded lemongrass blooms quite late, around the seventh year, but this method has an advantage over the vegetative propagation method as in most cases seeded plants have both male and female flowers, allowing for a harvest even with a single liana.