Ceiba chodatii ex. Chorisia, floss silk tree, Palo Borracho. 10 RARE fresh seeds

Ceiba chodatii, the floss silk tree, is a species of deciduous tree native to the tropical and subtropical forests of South America.
It has a bottle-shaped swollen trunk in which water is stored for the dry season and is known locally as palo borracho.

Ceiba chodatii is a medium-sized deciduous tree with a tall, stout, bare trunk. It grows to about 12 meters (39 ft) tall, has a number of thick branches at the top of the swollen trunk and has a rounded crown. The bark is smooth with vertical ridges and horizontal wrinkles. It contains chlorophyll and is green when young and able to photosynthesize, but turns grey with age. It is covered with thick, woody conical spines. The alternate leaves are palmate with five lobes and serrated edges. The flowers are large, solitary and creamy white with a few purple flecks. They are up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long with yellow-green calyces and funnel-shaped corollas with five fleshy, hairy petals joined at the base. The fruit is a large, oblong green capsule. When ripe it splits open to reveal black seeds surrounded by a mass of white fibers resembling cotton.

Note!!! C. chodatii and C. insignis are very similar in appearance, and it's hard to tell which one it is. It can easily be a hybrid between two or with other Ceiba species. The only thing I can guarantee that it has yellow flowers with brown unlike C. speciosa with pink flowers.

Growing Ceiba chodatii from seed

Sowing time: spring (it is deciduous tree, the seedling needs time to to gain strength before going winter dormant).

Germination temperature: 25-30°C

Pre-Treatment: soak in lukewarm water for 24-48 hours (until seeds sunk to the bottom)

Sowing mix: compost + perlite or sand, readymade compost for seeds and cuttings

Water: moist potting mix, not wet

Germination time: 7 days and more

Germination method: soak the seeds in lukewarm water 24 hours or until all the seeds sunk to the bottom. It is an important part of the germination process which will induce germination process.

The next step will depend of your preference – baggy method or sowing directly in the potting mixture.

1. Take 1 or 2 sheets of paper kitchen towels, better plain white without print. Put your pre-soaked seeds on paper, spray with water (or 4-5 parts of water and 1 part of hydrogen peroxide). Fold or roll the paper and put in the sealable bag or plastic container. Store at the place with temperature above +25°C until germination occurs (check after 5-7 days). Once the germination starts the seeds will open releasing hydrogel (this is the point why I love baggy method which allows you to see the process of the plant being borne behind the scene). I would not recommend to transfer the seed to the soil straight away but wait until the taproot appears.
Prepare individual pots 6-8 cm (3 inch) with potting medium with 1 part of compost and 1 part of sand or perlite (readymade compost for seeds will works as well). Sow the seeds 1 cm deep in the medium. Spray with water and keep moist but not soggy. Keep at the same temperature +25-30°C. Some of my seeds just didn’t sprout, the possible reasons I could assume: 1) I moved seeds to soil to early, 2) the room temperature was lower then +25°C and the germination ceased.

Take care of the young seedlings the same way how you do with the similar plants. Keep them in sheltered position avoiding wind and direst sunlight, water moderately not allowing the soil to dry up. For the first winter I would suggest to keep the young seedling in the cold frame.
Ceiba chodatii is tolerant to light frost up to -5°C, but I would refer it to the trees over 3 y.o., planted in soil.
Please if you see some inaccuracies in the description or you have your own germination method let me about it, I’d love to hear your feedback.