Indian Almond Seed to (hopefully) Tree

I had ordered some indian almond seeds months ago and had scarified and attempted to plant two of them. Both failed naturally. So I am starting again, this time from actual seed without husk. So I will try to update the progresses as it goes. Right now I have one seed planted (because I crushed one, and the first two, when trying to cracked open the husk because I was using too big of a pair of plyers*)/in water to wait out a little bit to swell. Then it will get dirt.
Yes, I am trying to grow my own IAL leaves.

 

Woohoo! How exciting

Have you tried just scraping away at the cover of the seed instead of cracking it with pliers? That should thin the shell enough to admit moisture.

 

The husk is about a half inch around the whole shell, which is a quarter inch around the seed. The husk is no problem to get through and has a nice spicy scent, the shell is almost like cracking a larger walnut and is impenetrable by water unless that is cracked a little, at least easily. The problem I had with that was that you can't see if the husk/shell swells with the seed inside, so you can't guage how long it needs to stay in water. Instructions for the seeds say anywhere from a day in water to week, me opening the shell to have the seed allows me to see the seed swell so I can get it into dryer media to grow. In my case, dirt. Yes, I brought it with me to work, as that gives it just about daily exposure to what I'll call 24/7 observation. I will take a picture as soon as I get to it lol.

 

Indian Almond is not related to that kind of almond, not sure that cold treatment would work or harm the embryo.

 

Aquaphobia,
Oops, thanks for catching that.

 

The almond, the one i'm trying to grow, is edible raw and cooked though, it has a nice spicy scent and "coat" flavoring (I admit trying to bite a piece of the shell off to see if it would work because I was running out of ideas, and it stayed firm... -.-'). I have placed the seed, which has been in water for a couple days, into some soil with the lightest covering over the seed so I can keep an eye on it better. (This is about like when I was waiting for heirloom lemon seeds to sprout!)

 

Kinda upsetting, but I don't know if it is completely destroyed, there was a pill bug (roly-poly) in the dirt I was using and it seems to have taken a rather large snack out of my almond seed. I pressed the seed to see if there was anything worth saving and it split open to reveal a half-formed shoot at the tip of the seed, I'm going to see what I can do about keeping that going and getting rid of the roly-poly(s) out of there before they finish it off.
If I can't save this one, I'll just have to start again, I will be buying some new dirt to use, most likely organic miracle-gro (no fertilizers is the point of that), because there is no place around me that sells vermiculite or perlite. So frustrating, specially seeing that it actually is growing!

 

I figured I might as well add a picture of the poor seed's current set up, that I just rigged. It is in about an inch of dirt/coffee grounds (added to make more loose dirt to help it) and is contained in a baggy away from the bottom of the cup (an old walmart betta cup, really good for growing from seed because they keep in moisture so you don't have to worry as much about them drying out and dying).

 

I thought pill bugs only ate already-dead plant matter? In any case, I hope it makes it!

 

I thought pill bugs only ate already-dead plant matter? In any case, I hope it makes it!

I'm guessing since the seed was swollen with water it seemed dead? It was a little less firm to the touch so I can see how they/it was able to bite into the thin layer around it.
No, they/it had taken a chunk out of the non-growing side, basically where the plant's food is when it is trying to grow from seed is what it ate. I made sure to grind all the dirt I put back in with it to remove any possible pill bugs that might have rolled up. I'm crossing my fingers.

 

Rats

 

Rats is right, the poor seed got taken over by some mold, which I have no clue where it came from. I had to toss it because there was no saving it after that. *so frustrating after it was doing so good!*

 

Do you have more seeds?

 

Do you have more seeds?

I have a handful but I was hoping to be able just to get this one to grow after spending a half hour getting it out without crushing it (gonna have to start over though, seeing that I know it will grow!). Such is luck.

 

Try just shaving away at the outside with a woodworking rasp or a nutmeg grater. Slower way to get in, but easier to control.

 

I do not have either of those, I was using a thin set of pliers to pull off the outside then carefully crack the inner shell.
I have a horseshoes rasp, but that is much to big and hurts when you scrape your knuckles across it... (in the case of the nut slipping and me raking my fingers over it lol).
The shells are incredibly hard to get though, just the outsides must be pried at the come apart. Knives are ineffective against the outside/no grip on it. I do not know where to get one of those, do you?

 

Get one of what?

Do you have access to a bench vise?

 

One of the nutmeg graters or woodworking rasp.
no..

 

Nutmeg graters at any kitchen supplies store. Probably find one at a dollar store!

Woodworking rasps are expensive, but worth it. Nothing better than good tools

 

I understand that, I'll try and see if I can find one or the other when I get back home.