How to Grow Pride of Barbados from Seeds

Store your seeds in a cool, dark place until you are ready to germinate them.

There's a little trick to getting these seeds to sprout quickly. The technique involves soaking the seeds for at least 48 hours in water. I’ve personally had success with adding water at tea-steeping range (195° F). I’ve known other gardeners to pour in fully boiled water (212° F). It is also perfectly fine to plant the seeds directly in soil without following the numbered steps below. Sprouting may take longer, but they will germinate once the soil temperature regularly reaches 75-80° F.

1. Add your seeds to a heat-safe container such as a glass jar, coffee mug or thermos. 

2. Fill your container with the heated water. 

3. After 24 hours, pour off the water and refill with fresh, heated water for the second 24-hour period of soaking. The seeds are ready when they have approximately doubled in size and the seed walls are no longer rock hard. A second soaking is not necessary if the seeds have already expanded and softened after the first 24 hours.

4. You can repeat steps 1-3 for seeds that have not yet inflated as many times as needed. Additionally, you can help stubborn seeds to rehydrate by scarifying the seed coat: Rub a corner of the seed on a file or sandpaper until you have just broken through the seed coat layer. The inner layer will be lighter in color. 

Once the seeds have doubled in size, plant them in well-draining soil approximately 3/4-inch deep. (I use the first joint in my pinky finger as a measure to create a hole in the soil.) Keep the soil moist but not wet, and around 75-80° Fahrenheit. Expect to see sprouting activity under the right conditions in 2-4 weeks. Some seeds may take longer. Once they sprout, you will see visible growth on a daily basis. They’re really quite amazing!

If you have a very delicate hand, you can carefully excavate unsprouted seeds to check on their progress. The root system is very robust and develops several inches in length before above-ground activity can be seen. I recommend starting your seeds in nursery pots if you plant on checking your seeds this way.

If the cotyledon pops up out of the soil, that is perfectly fine. Once the plant has a stem several inches long, you can add more soil to cover the remains of the cotyledon if you wish.

The best time to plant a Pride of Barbados in the ground is late spring or early summer, but you can start growing the plant indoors at any time as long as you have access to a warm space with bright light.