Mango Seed - The Story Continues

In the last episode, curiosity got the best of me and I dug around my mango seeds to see if there was anything going on. There was! Despite the lack of activity above ground, my seeds had grown roots.  It scared me a bit because the poking might have shocked the mango seeds into oblivion.  Imagine my surprise today when I saw small leaves sprouting from the ground.  The pictures are not crystal clear, but there's no mistaking it.  That's not a grasshopper.  Those are not blades of grass.  Those are small mango leaves!  Yey.  So that means I have around a 15% survival rate because I planed a good number of seeds.   Oh well, now they're just accidental compost.  I can't wait until it looks like an actual plant!    All I can say is that all hope is not yet lost.  By the way, my Gotu Kola's doing a cameo on this picture.

To recap, how do you make a mango seed grow?  Eat the mango (preferably one that has not been refrigerated).  Clean the fibrous shell.  Let it dry out.  Slice open the shell but be careful not to cut through the seed.  Remove the seed.  Put it in a resealable plastic bag (a sandwich bag will do) with water soaked tissue inside.  Leave in a sunny, hot place for a week or so (maybe even longer).  Once there's evidence of a root, plant the seed in a pot or on the ground, but leave part of the seed exposed above ground.  Use potting soil.  Let it see some sunlight and water regularly.  After around two weeks, you might see your first sprout (or the seed might rot).  To improve your chances, be patient.  Don't fiddle with it too much like I did.   Good luck!  Maybe I'll have another recap when it's grafting time.

Poinsettia Recovery

In other happy news, the last time I talked about my Poinsettia, all the red leaves have fallen off and the plant looks beset by malnutrition inside the house.  Following my research, I found that it's not really a hard core indoor plant.  In fact, it needs about 8-10 hours of sunlight.  I'm glad to say that since moving it to our greenhouse like yard, it has shown notable recovery.  It looks like a normal, healthy plant now; devoid of red leaves but very much alive.

Macopa in Bloom

Finally, through no doing of my own, our Macopa tree is once again in full bloom.  Look at all the fruits in those shots.  My delivery boy (ahem we deliver alkaline water in Quezon City) is having a field day climbing and picking (and of course) eating the fruits.  If only every plant bloomed this easily. 

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