newbie

[suz]

Hi everyone my name is suz and i am newbie in every sense of the word. I live in london and have a very small garden but would love to be able to have a tropical feel to it.... i dont have any experience and only recently became interested in gardening so i will need as much advice as possible...
I have recently bought some banana plant seeds and trying to germinate them but so far nothing... i am hoping that i could get a few reconmendations from anyone who reads this, ie what plants are the easiest to germinate and grow?????
( i do have one tropical plant but dont know the name of it? its atleast 15 years old and i am amazed i have not killed it!!!!! will do pics)

suz

[Adam D]

Welcome to the forum suz!

It's a great place to hang out, improve and share your plant knowledge

[kata]

Welcome Suz!!

Yep, pics are always welcome....

[Tom2006]

Welcome, you have come to the right place. I am not good at growing seed so others will be able to help you there. Do some separate posts in the forum asking the questions you want and you should get lots of help.

In London you should be able to grow more than us up North so you are already off to a good start. I would advise that you have a good read on the forum, search the net/garden centres and pick out tropical looking plants that you like and then ask away. Do you have the budget?

[GoggleboxUK]

Hi and welcome to HTUK Suz.

Have a look through the Blogs and members galleries, there's lots of inspiration in those. I still consider myself a newbie as this is only my 3rd year at gardening but there's a wealth of information here to help you and you can post as many questions as you need to and you'll always get a good response from knowledgeable folk who are happy to help out.

Enjoy the forum and enkoy your new hobby, it's a great adventure.

[dino]

Welcome Suz. you'll soon be hooked like the rest of us nutters

[jungle jas]

Hi Suz, living in London you may have an advantage over most of us due to your higher temperatures! Ideal for tropicals. What temperatures are you trying to germinate your bananas at, that may be your problem.

[suz]

Hi everyone thankyou for the lovely responce,,,, my buget is very limited at the moment so i am going to try and go down the route of trying to get my lovely tropical garden by trying to germinate seeds myself,( i must be mad lol) anyway i have just bought some more seeds which are campsis radicans (trumpet vines) and washington robusta palm..... so fingers crossed!
My banana seeds are still not germinating Im trying to alternate temp as i have read that they tend to germinate better so have been putting them ontop of the boiler during the day and keeping them a little bit cooler at night. I have done a little bit of hunting around the internet and i have come across something called Verminculite you mix it with your soil and its says it benefits seed germination and aslo Cape seed primer discs, this you soak the seeds in for 24 hours it says it helps break down seeds and thus helps germination.
So i have also bought them.... will keep ppl posted on that one. But if anyone has ever heard of these and have tryed them i am very interested in how it works or if it works?????
suz

[kata]

This link may be useful Suz

http://www.palms.org/principes/1999/palmseeds.htm

And another

http://www.personal.u-net.com/~treetops/dateseed.html

[suz]

Thanks kata, just looked up your links and had a quick read,,,, looks great and very usefull.
suz

[kata]

Ah great Suz,

There is one other but I need to find it.