Growing wisteria from seed

Hi! Quick question. I received a couple of wisteria seed pods a few months ago and after the pods popped open, I recently soaked the seeds, then placed between wet papertowel for sprouting and I'm pleased to report that four seeds are sprouting nicely with about a half to three quarter's inch growth of a new shoot. But - I'm not sure how to proceed next. I know exactly where I want to plant it in the back yard (near a wooden structure that will be great for its climbing needs and plenty of sun, which I understand it needs also), but don't know if I should plant the seedlings in a pot first and let them grow a bit before putting them out, or just stick them in the ground. I don't want to jeopardize their growth, but certainly can't let them grow in papertowel for much longer! Any experiential advice would be welcome!!

Thanks and happy growing!

Ah, to be young again to start a wisteria from seed!

Hello Thea, not to discourage you but are you aware that a wisteria started from seed can take an average of 7 to years to bloom, if at all? Wisterias are notorious for messing with gardeners heads, and starting them from seed is a sure way of testing one's patience and endurance. The second problem is, that if indeed they ever find their way to bloom it may not look anything like the plant it came from.

Most specimen are grafted or grown from cuttings. Bare root ones take about 4 to 5 years to grow, and potted ones do bloom depending upon their age. All that said, what you need is a good growing medium, a 4-inch long pot to help it develop a good set of roots, and some extremely diluted ( I mean 1 tablespoon to a gallon of water) fish emulsion to feed the new seedling maybe once a month. Regardless of how good your soil may be outside, they are appetizers for the slugs if planted on the ground this early. Give it a chance to grow, if you have a good place where to harden it take it out and then keep it under cover so neither strong sun nor wind will damage the cuticle of the leaves while developing.

After that, Mother Nature and your good sense plus much info around Google will help you see how long are you willing to wait. By the way, do you happen to know if it is a Chinese or a Japanese wisteria? They are different and depending on your zone they may want to be treated a bit different. Good luck, and I am sure other members will try to help more than I can,

Allegra zone 6-7 in Portland Oregon

Thanks for your reply. Yes, actually, I am well aware that it can take anywhere from 7 to 10 years or more before a plant begins to bloom and also that most wisteria's are started from grafts or cuttings. I just happened to be the recipient of these seeds and I just hate to see them go kaput. Ergo, I want to find out the best way to get them going and growing! Also I know that there are Japanese and Chinese wisteria but don't know which 'flavor' this one is. I should be able to find out though. Most - actually all - of my knowledge has come from reading about it on the net or elsewhere - no first hand experience here.

Thanks for your great advice - I will set about getting them into a pot posthaste. A couple of questions - will a four inch pot be sufficient for its initial growth and do I let it get rootbound before transplanting outside or should it be planted into a bigger pot at that time rather than outside? Also, what is the benefit of the fish emulsion over a good garden fertilizer? About how big does it need to get before it can survive in outside elements, i.e., sun and wind? Oh, and one last thing - unfortunately, I am not so young anymore - in fact by the time this thing gets around to blooming, I will be virtually geriatric, so I hope it hurries!!

Thanks greatly for taking the time to post. I welcome any and all other tidbits of knowledge!!

Thea

Thanks for your help! I think I had actually accessed this information when I did a 'net search on wisteria. I ended up quite informed in most respects, but just couldn't find anything about starting from seeds (of course, the reason is that it is seldom done!). In any case, I went ahead and put my seedlings in 'round' pots for now and will monitor to see if they continue to grow. I'm still not too familiar with the pots you mentioned - guess I'll need to go to Lowe's and check out what they put their trees in.

Thanks again for your response. Thea