Aglaia odorata is a small tree or shrub that produces white flowers with a strong fragrance. It has been used in traditional medicine for centuries and is also known as fragrant plumeria, Hawaiian ginger, or white ginger. The plant can grow up to 20 feet tall and produces hardwood that’s used for making furniture and musical instruments.
Although fragrant plumeria is native to Asia and Australia, it’s cultivated throughout the world as an ornamental plant. It grows best in full sun with well-drained soil that contains plenty of organic matter. The flowers are pollinated by insects such as moths and butterflies; they produce seeds after blooming which can be harvested for propagation purposes.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to grow Aglaia odorata from seed so you can have your fragrant plumeria plants growing in your yard!
Materials Needed
The materials needed for this project include the following:
- Transparent plastic bag or plastic wrap
- Seedling tray or pots
- Germinating medium (sand, vermiculite, or a mix of both)
- Water
- Good source of light, such as a fluorescent light with grow light tubes. The seeds need at least 10 hours of sunlight each day for germination to occur correctly. If you don’t have a spot that gets enough sunlight, use fluorescent lights instead! Misting bottles are great if you want to keep the humidity levels up in your terrarium and don’t want to spend money on an electronic humidifier.
Soaking and Scarifying the Seed
Soak the seeds in hot water for two days. The seeds will germinate within a few weeks, but this step will make it happen faster, which is great if you’re impatient or just want to try something new. On day one, place your seeds in a large glass container filled with lukewarm water (not hot). Cover them with a cloth and leave them on top of your refrigerator overnight, then drain off excess moisture before returning them to their warm spot on the fridge.
After two days of soaking in lukewarm water, take out some seeds by gently rubbing off their husks; you should see some black spots appear where you rubbed—these are germination spots! Soak those blackened seeds in cold water overnight again as before, then remove any more husks that aren’t completely hardened yet while they’re still saturated with cold water. At this point we recommend putting them back into hot water until they sprout—if they haven’t already sprouted by now then it’s time for some action!
Germination
Germination can take up to four weeks. You can put a plastic bag over the seed trays to hold in moisture, but do not seal it and make sure the bag does not touch the seedlings. Do not let the trays dry out completely or they will die.
Germination of Aglaia odorata from seed can be done at home by following these simple steps:
Step 1: Collect the seeds from the fruit after ripening. The seeds are oval-shaped with a thin skin covering them. They look like large grains of rice and have black spots on their surface when they are ripe.
Step 2: Soak the seeds in water overnight to soften their outer shell so that they can be removed easily without damaging the embryo within it.
Step 3: Remove the outer shell by rubbing gently with your fingertips until you can see a small oval-shaped embryo inside is surrounded by a white membrane called the endosperm which holds food reserves for the seedling until it germinates and becomes independent.
Potting Up
Once your seedling has grown to about six inches tall, it is ready to be transferred into its small pot. This can be done anytime during spring or summer. There are two main steps in the process:
- Preparing the soil and potting up. The soil should drain well, but not be too sandy or dry. It should also have good drainage holes at the bottom of each drainage cell so that water doesn’t pool around your plant’s roots. Don’t bury the seed too deeply! If you do, it won’t grow properly; just place it on top of a mound of loose soil in your small pot (you want the soil level just below where there would normally be light). Then fill up around them with more loose soil until no bare spots are showing through—but don’t pack down too hard with excessive tamping because this will prevent oxygen from getting through to their roots and stunt their growth! Remember: don’t use fertilizer yet—that comes later when we’re ready for blooming/fruiting!
- Placement near indirect sunlight after transplanting (and now we wait!). Aglaia odorata prefers filtered sunlight indoors—so try placing it near an east-facing window where they get sun during morning hours but not all day long… the leaves should turn green as opposed to yellow as they get older if they’re getting enough light exposure.
Care of Seedlings
Aglaia odorata seedlings are best kept in a warm, humid environment with bright indirect light. The soil should be kept moist but not wet. You may need to water them every few days or so depending on how the weather is affecting your plant’s conditions.
Seedling care:
The seedling should be grown in a warm place and watered regularly with a small amount of fertilizer diluted in water. The soil should be kept moist at all times. You can use horticultural charcoal to prevent any fungus from growing on the roots or leaves of your plant, which may cause wilting or dieback.
When you receive your plant, remove it from its container carefully to avoid damaging its roots or leaves. Gently shake off any loose potting soil around the root ball before planting it into its new potting medium.
Follow these directions and you’ll have lovely seedlings of this rare plant!
Aglaia odorata is a rare and beautiful houseplant, but it’s not easy to grow from seed. The seeds are difficult to germinate, even under the best conditions. However, if you follow these directions and have patience (and a few extra dollars), you’ll be rewarded with lovely seedlings of this little-known flower!
Getting the plant from seed to maturity takes a lot of time, but it’s well worth it. If you’re planning on sowing this species and like the results you see here, let us know about your experience in the comments below. Happy growing!