Germinating mimosa hostilis seeds

With a little practice and fresh seeds you should be able to get a 99% success rate!

Gently make a nick or a scratch in the end of the seed. This is to help the seedling escape from its hard shelled seed-prison! We have a nice clean, sharp pair of nail scissors we use!

Boil a cup of water and allow it to cool for 10 minutes. Just enough to be able to dip your finger in.

It should still be very hot tho. Put the seeds in the water, they should sink. If they float, try making the nick on your seeds a little deeper. (not too deep though as this could harm the seed germ.) Leave them in to soak in the hot water for about 45 minutes. You will notice that they have swelled up slightly.

Place the swollen seeds in a pot of damp vermiculite (we use plant pods because they are so easy and germination friendly). Just place the seeds on top of the vermiculite, they need light to germinate. Lightly mist and cover with cling film or put the plant pod lid on.

Within two weeks the seeds will have started to germinate, but they are too small just yet, to replant. Instead, leave them in their vermiculite until they have pushed out their first set of leaves.

After another week, or when the first set of leaves have opened, the seedlings can be re-potted into a mix of compost, perlite and vermiculite (1:1:1) and placed in a propagator in a warm place (about 70 degrees F) and exposed to light, but not direct sun. (This can damage the seedlings at this size)