By Neve (age 8), Esmé (age 6), and Sadie (age 3)
Our family is in isolation, so we decided to learn how to home-grow our own kōwhai trees. We already have some big kōwhai trees so we’re really excited to grow some more.
These are the steps we took to start growing the babies:
Important Reminder: Wash your hands after handling all parts of kōwhai. Make sure younger family members and pets don’t eat the seeds.
Instructions
1. Collect toilet roll holders and egg cartons.
2. Collect kōwhai seeds. We picked the seed pods and peeled them to get the seeds out.
3. Scratch off the outer wall of each seed. We did this by using a nail file or sandpaper would work as well.
4. Soak the seeds overnight in a glass of water. This gets them to germinate.
5. Make four cuts in the bottom of the toilet roll holders and fold the ends up to make a bottom. Put one roll in each section of an egg carton.
6. Spoon dirt into the toilet roll holders and with the dirt a kōwhai seed. We used cacti and succulent potting mix.
7. Set the toilet roll holders down outside and water them almost every day or they will die.
PS: You should see seedlings in about two weeks. When you’re ready to plant, just unfold the toilet roll holder and pop the whole thing into the ground.
