Strange Fake Widow Spider Or Fat Fraud?

Spotted this strange fat spider today hanging off my cat! Not sure what species it is but it does have those odd white spots that the fake / false widows have. I know there are quite a few different fake widows in the UK, I have seen a few, but they are usually much darker in colour. From different angles this one was very shiny, almost silver in colour. Is this another one to add to the collection? I believe people and animals have to be careful around these spiders as one woman had to have her finger amputated due to a false widow bite.

Identified as a Theridion blackwalli by the good folks of the British Spider Identification Facebook Group

There have been numerous others that have also had some very nasty wounds from these types of spiders. Is it a fake widow or something else. It's only small, but so fat it looks like it's about to explode! Strange little thing. I put it on a Basil plant and tried to take a few pictures but the camera was having a tough time focusing. Click the pictures to enlarge.

Germinating Indian Bean Tree Seeds

First off: What a wonderful tree this is. The Indian Bean Tree (Catalpa Bignonioides) is one of my favourites right now. That's why I bought some seeds! The leaves are beautiful. I have a few baby plants coming up and the thing that stands out about these plants to me so far is it's leaf quality. The colour and texture is so rich and intense. Looking on Google Images at the full sized trees, the flowers look nice too. Anyways, you came here to read about how to germinate Indian Bean Tree Seeds so lets get on with it.

Indian Bean Tree Seeds

Fill a small tub / container with water. I use a small lunch box type container. Anything will do. You could even use a cup or a glass if you have no tubs available. Get some of your seeds and put them into the container that has the water in.

Now leave them in the water for at least 24 hours. This is to soften the outer shell / skin that the seeds are concealed in so it can be pulled off to reveal the seeds. I left mine in water for about 36 hours and found that was just about the right amount of time for easy-ish shell / coat removal. During the time period that they are in the water check to see if any of the seeds are floating. If they are just push them under the water with your fingers until they remain submerged on there own. This will help with softening the outer skin that covers the seeds.

When the time is up take the seeds out of the water and remove them from their protective skins. Hold one end with one hand and peel or pull at the skin with the other hand to release the seeds. Some skins may be a little stubborn but they will come off eventually. Then after this step the process for germinating these seeds is basically the same as germinating Paulownia Tomentosa Seeds. Fill a tub / container with a decent level of soil. The container should be see-through so that light can get in. A sealable lid is also ideal. If you don't have the lid just cover the top of the container with some cling film.

We have lift off. Indian Bean Tree Germination

Sow seeds on the surface as they need light in order to germinate. Water the soil and also give the container a spray with water to aid with humidity. Close the container so that it's air tight and leave in a location that will get sunlight like a window sill, or put the container under an artificial light source. Personally I use CFL lights to germinate these seeds and it works fine.

Leave the seeds in the air tight container for anything from a few days up to a week. After this time you should see signs of germination taking place. If not re-water the soil and spray the container again, then leave for a few days, or up to a week. Check periodically to see what's happening. After this time you should see some seeds sprouting. Once they are up and looking lively you can reduce the amount of humidity by leaving the top of the container off for long periods of time so that the plants get used to normal temperatures. Once they start to develop the first few sets of leaves move them into small individual plant pots. And that's it.

Summary

1. Soak seeds in water for a least 24 hours

2. Peel seeds from protective skins

3. Sow seeds on the surface of the soil

4. Water soil - Spray container

5. Close container so it's air tight

6. Put container where there's good lighting

7. Leave for around 1 week

Repeat from step 4 to step 7 if there are no signs of germination after one week.

Germinating Paulownia Tomentosa Seeds

Germinating Paulownia Tomentosa Seeds is a fairly easy process, and I'm sure there are many ways to germinate the seeds. The way I do it is as follows: Put a uniform amount of soil in a see through, sealable tray. I use an old see through takeaway container that has a sealable lid and it works well. I'm a big fan of using whatever I have around the house! If you have a tray but no lid you can always just cover the top with cling film. Put the seeds on the surface of the soil and mist the whole container with water. Also make sure the soil is fairly damp. This will aid with keeping humidity up over the long term. These seeds need to be on the surface, as they need light to germinate.

Make the container air tight by closing the lid or sealing it with cling film and leave in a place that will get some decent sunlight like a window sill etc. Personally I use CFL lights (Compact Fluorescent Bulbs) to germinate these seeds. As I do with most seeds. You don't need much light in terms of CFL wattage to germinate seeds. In fact with as little as an 11 Watt Energy Saver CFL bulb, whether that be 6400K (Daylight) or 2700K (Warm white) focused directly over the tray containing the seeds you can easily germinate Paulownia Tomentosa seeds. I leave the light on for 14 hours of the day but you could successfully grow these plants with less hours, or more if you like. More powerful CFL's will be needed if you plan on growing these plants indoors to a decent size. Of course, nothing beats natural sunlight.

So, once you have misted the tray and left under a CFL or on a window sill, leave it for around a week. Just open the container now and then to check if there are any signs of germination. Don't open it too frequently because you will lose humidity. If the container is going dry inside re-mist and water the soil a little then close and leave for a few days. After around 1 week + you should see signs of germination taking place.

Once some the seeds are up and running you can leave the top off and let them get used to normal temperatures. At this point I leave them to root a bit before removing them by hand and giving them their own pots. With mine, once potted I will continue to leave them under CFL bulbs until they are big enough to be planted outdoors. Still waiting for that day to come. I know these trees are classed as an invasive species to most but I still want a few in my garden! I'll just cut any others that happen to come up. However, not all Tomentosa trees will seed.

One thing that I have noticed with young Paulownia Tomentosa trees is that they are not fussy when it comes to plant food. They seem to thrive off almost anything you give them. Can't wait to plant one or two outside. I'm just waiting for the cold nights to leave us. I'm in the UK, so the summer here is quite temperamental. If you have any questions regarding germination just shoot me a comment.

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