Organic Yellow Catalpa Seeds (Catalpa Ovata)

A beautiful, medium-sized, deciduous tree rarely taller than 10 m, native to China. It forms a stocky trunk that holds a broad crown with large, shallowly lobed, light green leaves.

Catalpa seeds are relatively easy to germinate and grow. The dormancy within the seed is short and easily broken. The seeds first need to be soaked in water for 24 hours then drained and mixed with a little dry sand which helps greatly to separate them from each other and make sowing them much easier.

Fill your chosen container with a good quality general potting compost. Suitable containers could be plant pots, seed trays or plug trays or even improvised containers with drainage holes. Firm the compost gently and sow the seeds on the surface -they must have light to enable germination, follow this with a gentle watering.

To maintain enough humidity around the seeds it is necessary to cover them with something transparent, this could be as simple as a clear plastic bag secured with an elastic band for seeds sown in plant pots or could be a sheet of glass or a layer of plastic film (cling film) held off the compost surface using thin wire arches for seeds sown in seed trays. After a day or so the water vapour begins to condense on the inside if the film indicating 100% humidity inside and the correct conditions for surface sown seed to germinate.

Usually within a week kept at room temperature signs of germination are evident. After another week or so covered by the film the edges were lifted slightly to increase air circulation and start to prepare the seedlings for life under more normal conditions

Developing seedlings should be fine in full sun, keep them well watered and free of competing weeds. Growth is quite fast will accelerate greatly during the second and subsequent years Developing young trees should be re-potted as necessary preferably during the dormant season.