Growing Moon Vines

One of my additions to the garden this year will be the hot weather loving night bloomer: the moonvine.  It is notoriously difficult to germinate, and while I might have good luck rooting woody plants, my seed sowing successes have been limited to those who are fine with a fling onto the ground method.

I have visions of it growing up my two story columns on the corner of my front porch.   The area that it will be planted will be completely surrounded by driveway, sidewalk or house, so though a member of the locally invasive ipomoea (morning glory) family, I am not too worried.  If its up in my attic next year I might change my story though. In its planned spot it will only get morning sun, then a brief one hour burst of evening sun, but given the intensity around here, I'm also feeling it will fair pretty well.

A week ago, when I went home for a brief visit to my childhood home, it snowed nearly a foot!  Which was awesome for this southern girl to see, since it melted before I needed to be anywhere seriously, and I looked at the weather at home as a security blanket on the internet and it was 68 degrees.   Anyhow, along the Blue Ridge parkway where I grew up Spring is nowhere near at hand, and coupled with a roaring woodstove, coffee and nothing much to do, my Mom and I flipped through seed catalogs and talked about the gardens.  She then admitted that she had never been able to grow these things.  Therefore, I am bound and determined to grow not one, BUT two so I can give her one all potted up when she visits in late spring.

So here we go.  I think I am going to try several methodologies at the same time.  First the soak method, and if that doesn't work, I'm going to use the nick method.

This involves a couple of seeds, some water, a paper towel, and a baggie.  Combine and you get this:

I will check it every day for the next several and once (or if) I see the shell split I'm going to plant it in my handy dandy see through milk carton and peat moss and gallon baggie combo that I am partial too.

P.S.  3 days later:

2 of the 4 seeds have sprouted, so I'm going with this soak plus warm window method.  Into the sphagnum they go!

Categories: How To