Propagate Pre treatment: none needed but 1 - 3 months cold moist stratification (CMS) evens out germination Germination: 4 - 12 weeks Pricking out: 4 - 8 months after sowing Tips: prone to Damping off |
The fruit can be quite tough so I usually rough it up a bit with some hard sand and leave it moist for a while to ferment and soften up, then scrub the fruit off and keep the seeds that sink, its usually a good sign of ripe/mature seed.
The seedlings are awfully prone to damping off so make sure they don't stay too wet and let them get to a decent size before pricking out so they can harden up a bit.

The galls that Carpodetus are often covered in (pictured at top) are host to a whole succession of occupants. The lavae of the midge that causes the gall is parasitized by four different species of Hymenoptera (the group that includes, bees, ants and wasps), then later the dying gall tissue is used as a breeding site by weevils.
If you're wondering is it manuka or is it kanuka (Kunzea robusta), the obvious differences are; manuka has large single flowers and hard rounded capsules with bulging lids, kanuka has clusters of much smaller flowers and soft capsules with sunken lids; manuka has pricklier leaves and is a smaller growing tree so the great big ones you see will be kanuka.
Propagate Pre treatment: 1 month CMS will even out germination but can stay in CMS for several months if you want as the seeds don't have a great shelf life Germination: 4 weeks - 1 year + Pricking out: 5 - 12 months (+) after sowing Tips: Let them get to decent size (~2cm) before pricking out and do so in the warmer months |
If you want lots at once the cold moist stratification will even out the germination but sometimes its quite handy to have seedlings coming up over a period of time so you don't have more than you can deal with. Sown fresh these seeds will keep germinating in your seed tray for a year or more so you can have several years worth from the one tray.
Flowering
Not one on the propagation schedule but these stunning little orchids are lining bush tracks all over the place so keep your eyes peeled !