How to Grow Bat Flower from Seed

 

Bat flower which is also called Tacca is a truly astounding flowering plant you can easily add to your garden. The Bat plant are actually natives of southern Asia and the plants have dusky, purplish black blooms with unique, whisker like bracteoles bristling around the flower. Can you grow bat flower from seed? You can easily purchase bat flower seed online, but you really need to know how to grow bat flower from seed. Bat flower is a special plant that has a very specific growing condition and also the bat flower seed germination can be a little bit challenging unless you are armed with a list of the plant’s likes and dislikes.

 

How Do You Start Bat Flower Seeds?

Actually, one of the first steps in growing bat flowers from seed is to acquire a mature seed pod. The pods should be allowed to mature and dry right on the plant for the best chance of germination. Make sure you use a good potting soil that has been pre-moistened and then plant the seeds in a two inch pot so they don’t need to be moved right away. Bat plants do not seem to like to be transplanted and will take a while to recover. You can also choose to make your own mixture. A good planting medium is ten percent sand, forty percent peat moss, and fifty percent fine bark. Bat flower seeds don’t need any stratification or scarification to germinate, though soaking the Bat flower seed in water overnight may help enhance germination. What they do need is time. How long does it take to grow bat flower from seed? The germination periods can run from a couple of weeks to several months. Bat flower seed also need evenly moist soil but not soggy media. Don’t forget to use a clear cover over the pot to conserve moisture but remove it daily to release excess that will build up and can cause damping off. The last vital ingredient to ensure successful bat flower seed germination is heat. A heated soil mat to keep the bottom of the medium warm will really improve your chances of seeing a little sprout.

 

How to Care for Bat Flower Seedlings

Don’t actually forget where these amazing plants hail from and consider the wild seeds’ needs as you set up your nursery. The Bat flower lives in tropical rainforests and they need plenty of warmth with a partially shaded location that mimics the dappled light of a treed area. Once you can safely handle the delicate bat flower seedlings, move them to larger pots. In summer you can keep the little Bat plants evenly moist, but in winter you can reduce watering by half, while never allowing the plant to dry out completely. That would be a death knell for these humidity loving plants.

Furthermore, if your heating system tends to dry out the air, mist the plants once per week or set the container in a saucer with some small pebbles and fill with water. This increases humidity without soaking the plant roots. An amazing tip from an expert grower is regarding water. He recommends using one cup (240 ml.) of hydrogen oxygen per gallon (4 L.) of water to help prevent fungal issues. The Bat plants in home cultivation are actually prone to these problems due to high humidity, low circulation, and often excess moisture. You can fertilize in spring and also increase circulation as you keep the plant moist. In some years to come you will be rewarded with a display of the odd, yet beautifully eerie flowers and their subsequent pods.