Website ‘Rare Palm Seeds’ has many gaultheria species seed for sale, some edible. For anyone trying for hybrids.
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That’s really surprising to hear. They’re notorious for being difficult to transplant, so the idea of planting stems without roots hadn’t seemed like a viable option for me.
There was one in my green belt. I clipped it and stuck the stems right into the soil near by. 10 years later the only thing that pushes thru them occasionally is wild him blackberries. The cuts were during the wet season though.
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And your sure the spread was from pushing cuttings into the ground around the original plant and not from the spreading underground rhizomes? I’ll have to experiment.
Is anyone growing salal outside the west coast and can share their experience? Are there any cultivars, or is it mostly bought/sold by seeds? I was considering trying it in 7a in the East coast, but am worried it won’t do well.
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I’d also love some seeds from good specimens if anyone collects this year. I’ll also try to take some to share.
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I am attempting to grow some from seed here in Central Florida. Unfortunately, they are a tiny seed, so its hard to tell if the little plants sprouting are them or weeds, but I’m pretty sure I got a few growing already. I’m also attempting wintergreen and mountain snowberry in the gualtheria family. Gonna grow them in basically full shade to see if I can get more heat tolerant offspring one day.
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I started some from seed a few years ago and expected them to be really difficult to germinate, but I was pleasantly surprised to get really good germination rates.
I start tiny seeds like that under lights by sprinkling them on sterilized sphagnum moss in mini plastic shot glasses—a pack of 30 is $3 here—then I mist them and tape another cup on top as a humidity cover. The cup fits easily in the butter keeper in the fridge to stratify. I find it’s an easy compact way to get a lot of seedlings without any weed competition or fungus gnats. You don’t need to open the cup until they get pretty big, usually it’s good for a few months.
Example of some rhododendron seedlings done this way:
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