I am sorry to hear about your durian distress, unfortunately growing these seeds aren’t as easy as we’d like them to be and it is quite challenging to get the environment right amongst all the other considerations about the viability of the seeds themselves. I was wondering if you have checked out Linda’s durian growing experience and whether it is similar? You can find her post and experience at this link.

When you refer to the “nut” falling off, I suppose from your last comment that you didn’t see any leaves at the tip of your “goedendag”? If there are no baby leaves visible then how about new shoots coming off the sides of the brown stem? If you see some greeny brown stubs coming off the side then perhaps that could be a sign of future activity.

I am going to post a picture of the nut which fell off my plant in a new posting, so please tell me if your nut resembles mine! I would also like to suggest that you take some photos of your durian seedling (and the time points) and let’s have a look at whether its as bad as or better than Linda’s experience.

Stinky sincerely,
Saritaone

Am glad you’re enjoying the blog and you must also be a real durian fan. So pleased to hear that you are about to grow your own durian tree, it is quite challenging but at the same time most exciting. I would recommend that you check out this post to get more visual information about how to prepare the seed for germination. Note that seed selection also plays an important role and you can also read this post about other people’s durian growing experiences.

Let me know how your seed gets on. If you have any photos and would like to share them with the other readers of this site, please send them to me and I’ll be happy to put them up.

Best of the stinky luck!
Saritaone

It is a nice surprise to hear from you and I am both grateful for the advice and flattered that you are reading my blog. The book that my sister bought for me from the UK was authored by Steven Bradley but I shall look for your book and buy it at the next time that I’m at the bookstore.

I don’t usually have plants as I think that plants require almost as much love and attention as pets do, and I’m not usually home often enough or consistently to ensure that I can check on them on a day to day basis. Having said that, some of my durian plants and money creepers have been remarkably resistant and my aloe vera is probably the healthiest one of all. As for little Tauwa durian plant (SS No. 1), well the stem still looks fine but all the leaves have fallen off. After the disastrous episode of unearthing it and placing it in water, I realised that I could be doing more damage to the roots and decided to pot it again. This time, I changed the soil and added some stones into the pot so that the soil is able to drain better. SS No. 1 has since lost all its leaves and looking quite sad. I’m not sure what else I should or shouldn’t do at this juncture… fertilize? water daily or water every few days? put into the shade or sun? I don’t suppose anyone offers a real emergency SOP for plants like we have in the human clinical world.

I feel guilty that it used to be such a vibrant plant but has now only a stem to speak of.

Will keep you posted on it but I won’t be digging it up again I think, will just watch over it and wait.

Have you ever tried growing a durian plant? I imagine that the difference in plant needs between a tropical plant and a temperate one must be quite significant and am wondering how small hobbyists like me will be able to figure out what’s best.

Stinky Sincerely,
Saritaone