Virginia Creeper (parthenocissus quinquefolia) Stunning Climber
how to grow the seeds.
First soak the seeds in water for 24 hours then drain off the water. Next prepare a free draining substrate into which the seeds are to be mixed, this can be a 50/50 mixture of compost and sharp sand, or perlite, vermiculite. The chosen substrate mix needs to be moist (but not wet), if you can squeeze water out of it with your hand it is too wet and your seeds may drown and die.
Mix the seeds into the substrate, making sure that their is enough volume of material to keep the seeds separated. Place the seed mixture into a clear plastic bag (freezer bags, especially zip-lock bags are very useful for this -provided a little gap is left in the seal for air exchange) If it is not a zip-lock type bag it needs to be loosely tied. Then write the date on the bag so that you know when the pre-treatment was started.
The seeds require a sustained cold period to break down the dormancy that is within them, this is easily achieved by placing the prepared bag of seeds and compost mix in the fridge (4 Celsius or 39F) for 8 weeks. It is quite possible for the seeds to germinate in the bag at these temperatures when they are ready to do so, if they do, just remove them from the bag and carefully plant them up. Seeds that are ready to germinate will have become plump and soft.
At the end of the pre-treatment period sow the seeds onto a firm bed of good quality moist compost and cover with a few millimeters of additional moist compost. Gently firm this down and keep in a warm place, away from hot sunshine at between 15-20 Celsius. Germination should begin within a few weeks.
This plant is a challenge to grow but well worth the effort
End Use: Tree or grow as a shrub, hedge
Thanks for looking.