Albert's Greenhouse

I did a little experiment in Anthurium seed sowing in the late summer last year. I have an Anthurium bakeri which is self-fertile and as a result provides me with large quantities of berries pretty much year-round.

I was trying to figure out whether the substrate made a big difference is seed longevity, and whether I needed to remove the pulp from around the seeds before sowing ( which can be an arduous task. )

I sowed two sets of seed on a peat/vermiculite substrate, and two sets of seed on a long fiber sphagnum substrate. One set on each substrate had the berries completely washed off and the other just had the berries crushed a bit.

Germination of Anthurium from fresh seed can be quick but the subsequent growth of the seedlings can be excruciatingly slow. So far, it appears that substrate is not effecting the growth rate, but that berries sown on the long fiber sphagnum without removal of the pulp did not germinate.

There's been an interesting thread on some favorite methods of Anthurium seed sowing recently on Aroid-L. You can find it here.