Lapageria seed sowing.

 

Seed should be sown fresh, ie straight from the sticky goo in the pod. Wash this off (in a sieve) and sow in gritty ericaceous compost, a number of seeds can be sown to a pot, cover seed to a depth of about 5mm and I find a layer of grit over this is good for preventing drying out (this is very important - do not let seed pots go dry) water just enough to keep moist without becoming wet.

Place seed pots somewhere at ambient temperature like a cold frame or under a cool greenhouse bench, avoid high temperatures. (I get very good results by placing the sown seed in a mist unit)

Germination usually takes about 3-6 months depending on when the seed was sown, pods can ripen all year round so this does vary. (using a mist unit can reduce this to 4-6 weeks)

 

Newly germinated seedling. Seedlings sit like this for some time so be patient!

Watch for snail & slug attack, preventative action with a liquid slug killer is a good idea.

Watch for aphids and treat immediately if seen. Even a few aphids quickly kill seedlings.

 

After about 6 months the pot of seedlings will look like this, other than watching for pests and watering, pots can be given the occasional liquid feed depending on how much food the original seed compost contained (I use 18 month osmocote so tend not to liquid feed)

At some point after about 1 year the seedlings will start to make extension growth as on the left, when most of the seedlings have gone away like this its time to pot them individually. Take great care with the roots as they are brittle and will be tangled together. On the right is a newly potted up seedling

When seedlings have more than one stem and are growing strongly they can move to 1.5-2lt containers, in a further 2 years they will reach flowering size. All in all it takes about 5 years for seeds to become flowering plants, about 1 year longer than a cutting. Results are unpredictable colour wise, but I have yet to see a "bad" seedling, all will be beautiful.