Four Koa seeds have sprouted. Unfortunately, I doubt one of them will make it. Something got into the seed and ate the germ. The cotyledons are up but there are no true leaves growing between them. Unless it can regenerate a new growth point, it won't be around very long. This may also account for my poor germination rate. According to the instructions I found for growing Koa, I expected over 80% of the seed to sprout. Perhaps many had unseen bug bites. I would have expected seeds that had been penetrated to swell during the initial bleach soak (five did, but none of these have sprouted).
One of the other seedlings had some damage as well. One cotyledon got a little munched, but I see some true leaves developing, so there's hope. The last two look very healthy. I've already potted one up into a gallon container and will get to the other one shortly. I ran out of potting mix.
This time I bought some very cheap organic "potting mix" that appears to be mostly composted manure. I'm mixing it half and half with Miracle-Gro tree and shrub. This is supposed to be mixed with natural soil as an amendment. This other potting mix is so dense, it might as well be dirt. I'll post if there's a difference in growth of the Koa trees.
In my last post I neglected to mention my Kava Kava plant (Piper methysticum). It has been deteriorating all winter and looks to be dying. I may have taken it back out to the sunroom too early. It hates the cold.
My pepper plant (Piper nigrum) hates the cold, too, but it (finally!) has grown two new shoots at the base. I feel a bit more confident about its survival, now.
My Jamaican Red dwarf banana tree has sprouted two babies. One is uncurling its first real leaf; the other is still only an inch tall. I'll cut them off from mama and pot them on their own in the coming weeks.
