How to Grow Sugar Plum Plants From Seed

The sugar plum tree (Lagunaria patersonia or patersonii) doesn't actually produce plums, though its puffy pink buds may look like them. Despite its tempting nickname, the tree has often been more bane than boon to schoolchildren in its native Australia. The visions in their heads of this sugar plum are not of a Christmas treat, but frequently of itch-inducing seedpods dropped down their backs by bullies. Growing to 40 feet, the tree makes up for those seedpods with symmetrical growth and 2-inch summer-blooming and hibiscus-like pink flowers in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 and 11.

Heavy gloves
Cup
3-inch seedling pots
Seed-starting mix
Sand
Plastic wrap
Grow light (optional)
Spray bottle
Liquid kelp fertilizer

Instructions

- 1
  Soak sugar plum seeds in a cup of warm water for two hours before sowing them. Fill 3-inch seedling pots to within an inch of their rims with a blend of equal parts seed-starting mix and sand.
- 2
  Plant one seed on the surface in each pot, and cover that seed with another 1/2 inch of the germination blend.
- 3
  Top the pots with plastic wrap to maintain moisture in the mix, and keep them at room temperature (from the upper 60s to the low 70s Fahrenheit). Watch for the seeds to germinate, somewhat unpredictably, over a space of two weeks to six months.
- 4
  Remove the plastic wrap and place the pots in a brightly lit position after the seeds sprout. Set them on a south-facing windowsill or under a grow light that runs for at least 12 hours per day.
- 5
  Keep the seedlings' soil mix damp, and feed them once a month by spraying them with a liquid kelp fertilizer solution. Use 2 to 4 tablespoons of kelp per gallon of water.

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