Sandalwood, or Santalum album is an ancient species that is native to Indonesia, Philippines, and Western Australia. By 1300 BCE, Sandalwood had become naturalized to South India. It is greatly valued for its fragrance and its religious importance. Due to its high popularity, its wild populations are threatened. Sandalwood trees are also hemiparasitic. This means, while they do perform photosynthesis, they do rely on other plants to capture certain nutrients and some water. In the case of Sandalwood, they need a nitrogen fixing plant to help them capture nitrogen as they grow.
Sandalwood is very difficult to germinate and is traditionally soaked in cow urine for 3 days prior to sowing. Properly diluted botanical Urea pellets can be used for this purpose as well. This is an essential step in Sandalwood germination. Some use gibberlic acid to increase germination success. Some have also been successful by soaking the seeds in water for 24 hours prior to sowing. Even with these preparations, seed germination is sporadic and can take anywhere between 4-12 weeks to germinate. Proper temperature and humidity is required during this period, which carefully monitoring for microbial growth, which can hinder germination.
The scarcity and difficulty to care for, make Sandalwood very rare, especially outside of its native climates.
Sandalwood is extremely difficult to germinate and care for. This item is for experienced gardeners who want to try their luck at a highly coveted, but difficult item. Due to limited quantities, absolutely no replacements will be considered for any reason.
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