Close This Window
|
||||||||||||||||||
The plant is very beautiful and stange-looking when it is blooming, it has nice leaves, but when the fruits reach maturity it becomes extremely unpleasant - the fruits have sharp and quite strong thorns which get entangled in the clothing and make walking across the fields of these plants in Chile a nightmare. But if you do not plan to use it for planting in areas where you would walk it is an interesting species to consider. The plant is reported to have medicinal properties, The germination of this species is not very complicated, but you should do the cold stratification. You can avoid it by planting the seeds in autumn and exposing them to natural cold stratification during winter time. If you decide to do it "scientifically," soak the fruits for two days in water, then put them into wet sand and put them into refrigerator at about +2 +5? C for about 30 days. Allow the seeds to breathe (ventilate from time to time) and check the humidity of the sand (it tends to dry out quickly, so adding moisture every three-four days is a must). Use poor substrates with good drainage (For instance, 1/2 of sand and 1/2 of garden soil would work fine). The germination usually takes about 3 - 4 weeks. |
||||||||||||||||||
