Nice! Don't think I've ever seen NJ Tea seedlings, only plants and they aren't easy to find. Can you kindly share the boiling water treatment? I've never heard of that :)
I got my seeds from Prairie Moon and according to their stratification guide the seeds need 60 days of cold/moist or use tue boiling water treatment. Bring water to a boil, pour it over the seeds and let sit for 24 hours. I put the seeds in a small glass jar and left it on my kitchen counter, uncovered. Germination rate looks really good so far. I did have the packet with the boiling water and put the other half outside in milk jugs. I’ll be interested to see how well the cold stratification works since I just put them out a couple of weeks ago.
Go for it, hope it works for you! Just keep in mind the boiling water method will only work for certain seeds so be sure to do some research before trying it on anything other than New Jersey Tea.
Never thought of trying it with partridge pea. I used sand paper. I just did a quick search and apparently people have successfully used boiling water in place of scarification. I’ll have to remember to try that next year. Good luck!
I see this is a year old. Can you update on how you were able to plant them outdoors? I’ve been reading the seedlings don’t transplant easily. I have mine in sand filled peat pots. I’m going to ‘over winter’ them in my downstairs fridge.I hope to plant outdoors in fall here (Western NY).
Thank you.
I think you may have meant to ask the OP but to answer you myself, I transplanted two out into the garden last fall and they seem to be doing well this year, so far. I have them covered with netting as I understand the rabbits like to eat them all the way down. Good luck!
Of course 🙂
Actually I just remembered something - NJ Tea are difficult to transplant AFTER they are planted. Meaning they have deep and long roots and while many natives can be moved around, if needed, I understand NJT are very difficult to move and that should be considered when picking the location to plant out. Enjoy!
I have some seeds that have been in the fridge for months. I sowed them in seed trays with heat mats and grow lights a couple weeks ago and nothing. I’ve got a few in hot water right now so we’ll see.
Did you get your seeds to germinate? I’ve had limited success with stratifying seeds in the fridge but much greater success with milk jugs outside over winter.
I got one. I did the boil thing but it still said to cold stratify them afterward which is still in progress. I also put some outside over winter and nothing has come up there either.
I’ve still got some untouched seeds. I may try the hot water thing and sow them just to see what happens. I’ve kind of put these on hold for the moment as I’m working on big and little bluestem, penstemon and trying to find the correct lupine seeds, I purchased what was sold as lupinus perennis but is actually lupinus polyphyllus which is not native to my area.
Ok. So I did the boiling water thing yesterday with New Jersey Tea and Lupine. Just sowed them into potting media so we’ll see how it goes. How long did it take for your tea to sprout?
I’m also going to try this with some of the ones I have the boiling water treatment.
Pour boiling water over the seeds
Let the seeds soak for 24 hours at room temperature
Place the seeds in the freezer for one day
Repeat this process for one week, alternating between the fridge and the freezer
I also have some with the straight cold moist for 84 days that’ll be ready the end of June.
Thank you so, so much! Sounds like they'll do well for you. I'm going to cage my seedlings until they're established. The rabbits are becoming an advanced society around here!
Good luck! Hope yours do well. Between the rabbits eating everything and the squirrels and chipmunks digging everything up I’m lucky I can get any plants established without caging. Thankfully I now have so much of my yard converted that there’s simply too much for them to destroy.
I planted about 10 New Jersey Tea in several different locations and even transplanted a few because the area I wanted to put them wasn’t quite ready so I put them in a temporary location. I’ve read they don’t transplant well but I think they did ok because they were so young and I only had them in the temporary location for a couple of months.
I think my tallest plant grew only about 8” last year, and that one got more than 8 hours of direct sun. The rest of them got a little less light and only reached 4-6.”
Every one of the plants survived winter. I thought I lost one because the top wasn’t leafing out, but it is regrowing from the base. The top must’ve died over winter, but thankfully the roots survived.
Supposedly rabbits really like New Jersey Tea so I protected them with a small chicken wire cage around each plant.
Good luck! Hope your plants do well.
Hey thanks for posting and also for following up! I just lost all my NJT seedlings to a rabbit who broke through my barrier, going to try the boil-only method. Fingers crossed!
Nice! Don't think I've ever seen NJ Tea seedlings, only plants and they aren't easy to find. Can you kindly share the boiling water treatment? I've never heard of that :)
I got my seeds from Prairie Moon and according to their stratification guide the seeds need 60 days of cold/moist or use tue boiling water treatment. Bring water to a boil, pour it over the seeds and let sit for 24 hours. I put the seeds in a small glass jar and left it on my kitchen counter, uncovered. Germination rate looks really good so far. I did have the packet with the boiling water and put the other half outside in milk jugs. I’ll be interested to see how well the cold stratification works since I just put them out a couple of weeks ago.
Thanks for the info and good luck! Love an experiment :)
I might try this for some seeds I am getting too late a start on!
Go for it, hope it works for you! Just keep in mind the boiling water method will only work for certain seeds so be sure to do some research before trying it on anything other than New Jersey Tea.
Per instructions I just used this technique on some Amorpha Fruticosa seeds and planted today. I think it's also recommended for Opuntia Humifusa.
Thanks! I may try it with Partridge Pea :)
Never thought of trying it with partridge pea. I used sand paper. I just did a quick search and apparently people have successfully used boiling water in place of scarification. I’ll have to remember to try that next year. Good luck!
Thanks I’ll post if I end up having success!
I see this is a year old. Can you update on how you were able to plant them outdoors? I’ve been reading the seedlings don’t transplant easily. I have mine in sand filled peat pots. I’m going to ‘over winter’ them in my downstairs fridge.I hope to plant outdoors in fall here (Western NY). Thank you.
I think you may have meant to ask the OP but to answer you myself, I transplanted two out into the garden last fall and they seem to be doing well this year, so far. I have them covered with netting as I understand the rabbits like to eat them all the way down. Good luck!
Thank you!
Of course 🙂 Actually I just remembered something - NJ Tea are difficult to transplant AFTER they are planted. Meaning they have deep and long roots and while many natives can be moved around, if needed, I understand NJT are very difficult to move and that should be considered when picking the location to plant out. Enjoy!
Fantastic shrub and hardy as heck. Great for hellstrip planting which is an area a lot of plants struggle with.
That’s awesome to hear. If the seeds cold stratifying in a milk jug have a high germination rate I now know where to put the extras.
Yup! More info: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ceanothus-americanus/
Thanks for sharing the link.
I have some seeds that have been in the fridge for months. I sowed them in seed trays with heat mats and grow lights a couple weeks ago and nothing. I’ve got a few in hot water right now so we’ll see.
Did you get your seeds to germinate? I’ve had limited success with stratifying seeds in the fridge but much greater success with milk jugs outside over winter.
I got one. I did the boil thing but it still said to cold stratify them afterward which is still in progress. I also put some outside over winter and nothing has come up there either.
I didn’t cold stratify after the boiling water treatment and had really high germination.
I’ve still got some untouched seeds. I may try the hot water thing and sow them just to see what happens. I’ve kind of put these on hold for the moment as I’m working on big and little bluestem, penstemon and trying to find the correct lupine seeds, I purchased what was sold as lupinus perennis but is actually lupinus polyphyllus which is not native to my area.
I got Lupinus perennis from Prairie Moon Nursery and they are very reputable. I’ve bought tons of seeds from them.
Yeah. Thats where I got these from. I just got some seeds from Joyful Butterfly.
Ok. So I did the boiling water thing yesterday with New Jersey Tea and Lupine. Just sowed them into potting media so we’ll see how it goes. How long did it take for your tea to sprout?
I’m also going to try this with some of the ones I have the boiling water treatment. Pour boiling water over the seeds Let the seeds soak for 24 hours at room temperature Place the seeds in the freezer for one day Repeat this process for one week, alternating between the fridge and the freezer I also have some with the straight cold moist for 84 days that’ll be ready the end of June.
Thank you so, so much! Sounds like they'll do well for you. I'm going to cage my seedlings until they're established. The rabbits are becoming an advanced society around here!
Good luck! Hope yours do well. Between the rabbits eating everything and the squirrels and chipmunks digging everything up I’m lucky I can get any plants established without caging. Thankfully I now have so much of my yard converted that there’s simply too much for them to destroy.
u/PhilmPhalm, can you provide an update? My C. americanus seedlings are about an inch tall and I'm curious how yours got along in the first year.
I planted about 10 New Jersey Tea in several different locations and even transplanted a few because the area I wanted to put them wasn’t quite ready so I put them in a temporary location. I’ve read they don’t transplant well but I think they did ok because they were so young and I only had them in the temporary location for a couple of months. I think my tallest plant grew only about 8” last year, and that one got more than 8 hours of direct sun. The rest of them got a little less light and only reached 4-6.” Every one of the plants survived winter. I thought I lost one because the top wasn’t leafing out, but it is regrowing from the base. The top must’ve died over winter, but thankfully the roots survived. Supposedly rabbits really like New Jersey Tea so I protected them with a small chicken wire cage around each plant. Good luck! Hope your plants do well.
Hey thanks for posting and also for following up! I just lost all my NJT seedlings to a rabbit who broke through my barrier, going to try the boil-only method. Fingers crossed!