Hardy Tropicals UK

Hi Dave, I have two berries that have turned white, when will they be ready for harvesting, not forgetting there are 1000's that are still green and still 4 flower stalks to ripen yet, what can I expect in the future as I would like to collect some seed to try and grow on

Nick, best edit your title to add Cordyline before australis or it could mean anything.

Sorry I don't know how to do that, could you do it if you have the know how
Thank you Adrian, your always so kind and helpful.

Adrian wrote:Nick, best edit your title to add Cordyline before australis or it could mean anything.

Done

Nick, when they turn white they are ripe. The first ones fell on the Black Mini 2 days ago. There are several small black seeds per fruit. I'm not sure if they need a cold spell before germinating, so you may need to fidge them or leaves them outside until next spring The self sown ones here germinate in spring and summer the next year.

Thanks Dave, I look forward to giving them ago, so it will be ok to take the white ones off and plant in pots with what compost would be best to use Now what do I do with them,pick the seeds out and plant one at a time or put three if there is three per berry per pot, now do I just let them sit on the surface of the compost or do I cover them, but yes I'll have to leave them out all winter as oh will go mad if i was to put them in the fridge, or is it just the seed to be put in the fridge as you can tell this is all new to me and Dave sorry for so many questions, You only learn by asking questions I was once told. But again thanks for all info you can let me have

Nick they are dead easy, pop them in a pot of multi purpose compost on a warm wondow cill and they will soon pop up. They do not need to go in the fridge, i found them very easy

Thanks Gary, how many seeds are in each berry's

Nick wrote:Thanks Gary, how many seeds are in each berry's

Anywhere from none to dozens, depends on how well they have grown

When I used to harvest Cordyline seeds I'd wait for all of the berries to go white, chop off the whole thing, then sit on my lounge floor picking all the berries off. You then need to find a way of squising the berries, for real bulk operations a food processor (but you do destroy some of the seeds), then wash everything like panning for gold, all the old berry pulp floats off if you do it smoothly, ending up with just the seed in your container. Then lay the washed seed out in trays to dry for a few days. Sow it fresh for best results.

They pop up all over the place here, moreso in amoungst potted plants.
The Starlings distribute them around the garden.
Strangely enough, I dont have them germinating under my Cordylines, it always away from them.

A quick question, if the seeds are left in the fruit will they still germinate when planted ?

Out of three flowers with hundreds of young berry's only about 8 have turned white, still waiting for then to ripen up, i am thinking it's getting a bit late now, or is it

Nick, you could just leave them in situ until next spring, theylll be essier to pick out then and you'll have a whole growing season for them to get going, easy-peasy too.

Thanks Nigel, I decided to do that and see how many ripe one's I get

irish dave wrote:A quick question, if the seeds are left in the fruit will they still germinate when planted ?

Yes, they self sow here and I don't remove the seed from the fruit. I presume it rots down.

Nick, they may ripen over the next few weeks, but will start to drop off over winter if left. You could cut the flower stem off before winter and place it in a large paper bag hung up somewhere. Then sow them next spring. The thing I like about collecting your own seed, although I just harvest those that self sow rather than harvest the seed, is that you end up with your own hybrids. I have a red one and a green with red bases, although the majority are standard australis.

Thanks Dave