Well, my little Depokan seed has sprouted, and it looks like I'm going to have 3 little seedlings from this one obviously polyembryonic seed! Very cool. Now, the scary question: When and how do I separate these little seedlings, so I can pot them up in their own little pots?

Wait until they get their first true leaves.

Okay, so at least one set of true leaves, and then do I just very carefully untangle the roots, and re-pot in starting soil then? I don't know how fragile they are.

Polyembryonic seedlings can either be sitting next to each other, easily seperated, or the roots circling each other and tangled. ( or some combination in between ) There is always some danger that you cant untangle easily, and you end up with one tiny seedling with no roots.

That's what I was afraid of. I guess I'll just have to let the little seedlings grow a wee bit more, so their roots are a little stonger. I see the first set of new leaves popping up with the largest and 2nd largest seedling. The third seedling is a bit behind in growth. So, I'll wait until it has a nice set of first leaves, then try the dastardly deed.

I would separate them just as soon as they have grown two true leaves. What I do is slosh the medium up and down that is holding the two seedlings in a pail of warm water. Because the two trees have such a small root system, the medium falls off very quickly and easily. I have never lost a seedling in all these years. Then I pot them up in a 2 inch Air Root Pruning container to develop a good root system. Good luck. - Millet (638-)

Thank you, Millet. This is my one and only little Depokan seed that sprouted, so I'd really like to not kill it if I can avoid it. "2 inch air root pruning container". Something I'm going to need to find?? Can you point me in an online source for this? Was just going to pop them in seed starting soil, but this sounds much better. Appreciate your help, Millet, I would not worry so much, but since this is my one and only seed in 18 Depokans, I'd really like to try to keep these little guys alive!

Patty, Air Root Pruning Containers (ARPC) are the only type of container that I use. They come in sizes from 2-inch to 200+ gallon) - Millet (637-)
http://www.rootmaker.com/rootmakersystem.php

Thanks, Millet. Very interesting. I'll have to read through their products to see what to order. Appreciate the link!

Patty, you are two years ahead of me, and it's nice to know you had many of the same questions I now face.

The answers are excellent, and I'm enjoying reading them all.

Sometimes ignorance isn't so blissful! I was very smart, I thought, and put one seed in each sponge-like Root Riot Cube in the watering tray, and was dismayed when I got twins in one.

There are now many twins, and even triplets, but the first twins had many roots showing at the bottom of their cube, and we decided to separate them 4 days ago. A root riot cube is NOT loose soil. It's a sponge! A sharp knife, wedged between the twins, wiggled down, sliced that cube in half, with zero root damage. In this case, the roots had grown down, towards the water source, and did not co-mingle at all. We sliced another cube in half, stuck it next to the seedling in place of the missing twin, and both are doing fine. I will add that they both had 4 sets of true leaves.

I hope the new twins will send their roots down as well. The root riot tray does encourage that behavior because it holds water in the bottom trenches, and although the top and middle gets drier in the hot sun, the roots stay damp.

I now have at least 21 flying dragon seedlings with a possibility of double that with the addition of all the new twins and triplets. I am happy with as many as I can grow, and separate because I need a lot of budding practice.

Suzi