Sichuan / Szechuan Peppercorn

[Ader1]

I've got some Sichaun Peppercorn seeds. I planted a few some weeks ago but not one of them have germinated. I've been looking on the internet and I read that they may need stratification. Has anybody grown these in the UK or somewhere with a similar climate? If you know what this process involves, could you explain it to me? I understand that the book 'A Taste of the Unexpected' by Marc Diacono covers these but does he go into stratification of seeds etc? Again appreciate if somebody could enlighten me. Thank you.

[zazen999]

I ended up buying 2 plants. Lovely scent and hopefully next year they will produce.

Stratification (botany) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[The Large One]

would love to have a go of these as plants
watched the Ken Hom program last week (Ken Hom, exploring China) where they had these featured quite a lot
managed to order some of the outter husks on eblag which give a superb aroma and when eaten numb the tounge

[Ader1]

Thank you for your replies. I have been to Sichuan province in China. I was told that they don't get much frost there if at all but I know from my own experience that it gets bitterly cold there......something to do with humidity and chill factor. I just loved the food there and they seemed to put these peppercorns in almost every other dish. I even had some ice cream infused with it! Anyway, I've got a plant which I bought last year which is doing OK but I've now got some seeds as well which I'm hoping will germinate. So.....a period of stratification it is then........If anybody has any other advice, please share......

[Rhona]

I've never even thought of trying this. You've inspired me to have a go.

[Ader1]

I've never even thought of trying this. You've inspired me to have a go.

I thought this thread would be more popular. Anyway, thanks to those that replied. :-)

[zazen999]

I thought this thread would be more popular. Anyway, thanks to those that replied. :-)

What is it you want to know?

[veggiechicken]

Had a quick look at Mark Diacono's book but all he says is that while they can be grown from seed you're several years away from cropping and its better to buy the plants. Not much help to you!

[Ader1]

Had a quick look at Mark Diacono's book but all he says is that while they can be grown from seed you're several years away from cropping and its better to buy the plants. Not much help to you!

And of course......he sells the plants. That's a little naughty of his not to say how to grow from seed but suggest they are a good plant to grow in the UK climate. I haven't got his book but is it all to do with promoting what he sells? Incidentally, I did buy a plant off of him last year. It hasn't grown much but it's looking fine. Maybe it will grow more next year. I appreciated you taking a look in the book.

[veggiechicken]

Its an attractive book that gives you ideas about plants that you might otherwise not thought of growing. It doesn't go into great detail about growing anything - enough detail to tell you what's involved but not in-depth. A lot of the plants can be grown from seed, mainly the herbaceous plants. If its a shrub or tree he advises you to buy a plant for the quicker return.
There's a Supplier's list at the back of the book but I didn't notice Otter Farm there - so I wouldn't say the book is a catalogue for his plants.
I bought the book from the River Cottage Book shop on Amazon where its half price @ £10
River Cottage Online Shop - A Taste of the Unexpected

[Ader1]

What is it you want to know?

As I stated in my original post and than you for the wikipedia link. I thought that there would at least be some here who had tried growing these from seed and maybe some who have first hand knowledge of seed stratification. I've now planted three lots of seeds under slightly different conditions. The next lot I will do according to the link you provided.

[Fubidou]

Growing Sichuan Peppercorn

Hi,

My tuppeny's worth:
I tried growing from seed before and did a bit of research at the time.
Firstly they are not easy to grow from seed and have a low germination rate. Also, once they start growing, they are quite difficult to keep alive!

The seeds need to be fresh, and you need to simulate winter for them by putting them in the fridge/freezer for a long time, and then in spring you can plant them on your windowsill. You also need to stratify (is that English? I don't know how to conjugate this verb!) the seeds, and I did this with sandpaper and nicking it with a blade. I also later read you should boil the seeds for a minute, but I didn't do that.

In any rate, my attempts ended in failure, so you can either take that as bad luck , or maybe the seeds weren't fresh enough (I bought them in a supermarket in Sichuan, where they come from)

Hope that's useful for you / anyone!

Peter

[shellyanne1987]

I've got some of these seed, you have to refrigerate them for 3 months before planting or put them in the ground at the beginning of winter so they get all the frosts


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[AllInContainers]

I got one of these as a small plant this year (about 12" high), and looking forward to seeing how it develops over the year. I plan on keeping it fairly compact until it's old enough to fruit. The good thing about it is that even without fruit, you can still use the leaves for cooking

[vicpivo]

Just ordered some seeds today. Sounds like a great idea - however from reading the web is may take a good few years to fruit and hopefully I am able to grow male and female plants!