Seed Paper Sprouting

How do we ensure a successful planting?

It can be tough to nurse the live seeds through germination into fully grown plants. Because so much depends on the gardener, we do not offer a guarantee that every customer will be successful in this process.  There are too many factors that come into play and too much that can go wrong for us to take the responsibility of elements that we cannot control, like soil temperature and acidity, watering, sunlight and planting depth.  We have very rigid testing and handling protocol to ensure that every batch of paper made here contains enough viable seeds for each item that we sell to have the potential for growth.

For your own piece of mind we recommend that you do the following; take a small piece (quarter size or bigger) of our made in the USA paper (larger is recommended for made in Nepal stock), place it into an airtight zip lock plastic sandwich bag, place a tablespoon of water (or enough to fully saturate the paper) in the bag and then seal the bag and trap a bit of air inside it so it forms a bubble to keep both sides of the bag from touching.  If you do this in a room that is has an ambient temperature of at least 72 degrees and allow the bag to be touched by sunlight for a few hours each day. You will see evidence of the seeds growth within 10 days time. Once you see the sprout's roots searching for soil, transfer the paper from the bag into a pot (or garden) with a light covering of soil and continue nursing the seedlings along by daily watering.

We have been making seeded paper goods for almost 20 years and are confident that every seeded paper that we sell has the potential for growth when it leaves our shop.

Day 1 - Started the heart on April 17th. Soaked the shape, tucked it into a bag with air trapped inside to create a little greenhouse.

Day 9 - Sprouts have reached about 1/2 inch tall and are looking for nutrients.

Day 9 - Moved to a pot..

Day 9 - Carefully covered with soil.

Day 9 - Covered the pot with a plastic bag to keep moisture trapped inside to create a bigger greenhouse.

Day 15 - Pulled off cover to make sure sprouts survived the transfer..

Day 79 (July 5)- Wondering when this thing will bloom.

 

Day 117 (August 14) - Still wondering when this thing will bloom.

 

Day 149 (September 17)- At last!.

Day 269 (Jan 16) The second plant to sprout from the same heart is still not in bloom.

Day 395 (May 17, 2019) Here we are, still waiting for a bloom from our second plant...

 

(August 30, 2019) Felt like the plant was never going to progress in the pot, so we moved it outside this summer. Now it seems to be doing better, still waiting for it to bloom...

(September 28, 2019) I think the plant just wanted more room to grow. Still waiting for a bloom from our second plant...

(November 11, 2019) Still no bloom, I hope this thing will winter over. Perhaps I should read a little about the plant to see if this is normal.

(March 13, 2020) Still no bloom but we made it through winter! Now the tension builds as we wait for what happens next.

(April 22, 2020) So while the world was experiencing a pandemic, this thing quietly bloomed.

 

(April 30, 2020) Now almost as tall as me. I thought this was only supposed to grow to three feet tall.

 

(May 15, 2020) Taller than me. This soil must be amazing!

(May 31, 2020) At long last. In full bloom. Two years and six weeks later.