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Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis)

synclinorium

synclinorium

Haha, this is probably going to turn out being an exercise in futility, but when I was ordering seeds from Trade Winds Fruit I noticed they had Yerba Mate seeds, so I figured, what the heck?

Turns out these things are a pain to germinate. Reading around online, it would seem that stratifying in a sterile medium (milled sphagnum moss and vermiculite in some combination is one I've seen pop up more than once, though sand is traditionally used) is the safest way. Being part of the Holly family, germination can take anywhere from 2 months to 2 years... keeping a fungicide on hand is advised (any suggestions here?)

I read through the few scientific articles I could find and the highest germination rates were associated with varying daily light levels and temperatures (as one might encounter in nature) as well as treating with a solution of potassium nitrate, though I might just forgo this latter step as I don't think it really helped that much.

I plan on lightly scarifying the seeds and soaking them in warm water overnight before putting them in bags of sterile media. I need to double check the temperature in my bottom-heated reptile tank, but I figured I would just hook this up to a timer with a light source so that they could experience something akin to natural warming/cooling light/dark cycles.

I'll post pictures when I get the seeds. This is probably going to be a thread without much, if any, activity happening. Failing seed starting, Logee's sells actual seedlings.

Anyone try growing this before?
 
Got the seeds... think I'm going to hold off on planting them until I can get ahold of some horticultural fungicide. Better safe than sorry.

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Found some fungicide that I forgot I had... should work fine. Opened up the seed bag and got a nice whiff of Mate. I'll moisten the vermiculite mix in a somewhat dilute fungicide solution, letting any excess water run off. I've lightly scarified the seeds (I can see why it's recommended, those little seeds don't look like much but they're built solid) and I'm going to let them soak in warm water for about a day before sticking them in the mix. I'm just using a basic seed starting tray that I've trimmed so that it will fit into a plastic bag, after that I'll fill it about 3/4s full with the starting mix, place a few seeds in each hole, then fill the rest of the way.

After that... it's just a matter of waiting, and hoping.
 
Yeah, but how cool would it be to have your own that you started from seed!
 
Exactly.

Like I said, Logee's sells seedlings, but at 12.95 for a seedling in a 2.5 inch pot plus about 22 something for 2-day insulated shipping in the wintertime, I think I'll try my hand at starting seeds first...

Then again, that price is reasonable considering the effort involved. We'll see. I might buy a plant when the weather warms up a bit and I can get away with regular shipping.
 
that's great, synclinorium. Being one to take mate daily, it would be really fun to have a plant. I'll be interested to see how this works out.
 
Yeah, I'm curious to see how it goes. My setup is hardly fancy and probably not sterile. Then again, I've had the best luck germinating my pepper seeds by leaving them on top of the router in a bag... so, so far low tech is working out.

Even if I get them to sprout I'll need to see what sort of care they need. I just got the hang of caring for my tea plant, which I'm growing mostly for fun since ideally you'll need multiple plants for a harvest... it lost a lot of leaves in our hot summer so I make sure to keep it in partial shade now. Indoors the leaves started drying in the winter air, but after I misted it twice a day it started putting out new growth, and now it seems to be growing at a slow but steady pace:

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As far as Yerba Mate is concerned though, I'm definitely a convert... I've been going through over a pot of coffee a day lately, and I was beginning to just feel terrible. I started drinking Yerba Mate again and man, instant relief. It's a nice pleasant alertness without the jitteriness of coffee, and I don't feel the need to keep drinking it constantly...
 
No activity on the Yerba Mate yet (shock), so don't get excited.



Keeping with the tea-theme, for shits and giggles I found a seller on ebay with Rooibos seeds in stock based in South Africa. You know how it goes with ebay sellers, but the seeds I received looked like the genuine article, tiny little bean-shaped pods. I carefully gave each seed a small cut with my pocket knife, and sowed them, bam, a week later they sprouted. I'm not holding my breath that they're actually Rooibos, but since he also sent me some other free seeds and a few growing guides, the seller may actually be legit... we'll see. Rooibos is also supposed to be incredibly difficult to grow.

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(It should probably be noted that none of these plants I'm growing will produce quality tea, if anything palatable at all- I'm doing it mostly for the novelty. Most of the best teas in the world come from mountainous areas where the temperatures are cooler, and growth is slowed, concentrating the essential oils and producing a superior crop)
 
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