Growing Laurus nobilis (bay leaf) tree from seed

Sneachta

I recently got some Laurus nobilis seeds on ebay and am a little put off by the instructions.
They say that i need to sow them on top of damp compost at a constant 21°C for germination to occur.

I have a greenhouse but not a propagator so am wondering if this is going to be a rather pointless endeavour. I don't have a hot press either to stick them in.

The plants are quite expensive to buy in the likes of Woodies so I was hoping to save a few euro growing from seed. Should I abandon ship and just prepare to fork out for an established plant?

tippben · Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 7:24 am Post subject:

That sounds like a challenge! I think you'd need some source of heat, but seeing as you already have the seeds, I'd try anyway. You can get plants in 1 litre pots reasonably cheaply, which although small, would give you several years headstart on a plant grown from seed.

mcgrueser · Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:41 am Post subject:

Can you split an established Bay down through the stem if you can make sure there are roots on both sides?

Was wondering could this be an option if you knew someone who had a mature tree...

tippben · Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:05 am Post subject:

Definitely not! You'd wreck them! Here: http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=251 are alternatives- looks like softwood cuttings, or layering, but if you could find an established tree sending up root suckers, you could dig on of those and propagate that way.

Sneachta · Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:00 am Post subject:

Well, I sowed the seed and bought another small plant on ebay.
If the seeds grow it'll be a bonus, if not, its not the end of the world.
The greenhouse hasn't a spare inch of space at this stage for more stuff given the weather, I should have just bought the plant in the first place!
If the seeds grow thats my Christmas presents sorted out for the my father and sister around Xmas 2016 or so !

My Potatoes · Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 9:52 pm Post subject:

I grew Laurus nobilis from seed last year. I picked the seeds from a bay hedge down the road, and planted the seeds just beneath the soil surface. I left the pots on an electric propagator for weeks. They eventually germinated and are growing slowly. I have about a dozen now, and they're putting forth new leaves at present.

I conducted one experiment to see whether there was more success with or without the thin flesh of the seed. None of those planted with the flesh germinated! Most of those with the flesh removed germinated.