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Viable Hibiscus rosa-sinensis seeds

10 years ago

Hello Hibiscus lovers!
I have a question about seeds...
I recently purchased 37 tropical hibiscus seeds @ $4 apiece from a hybridizer. (Wow, did I really spend that much? yikes!) 9 of those seeds were hollow. That is almost 25% of them! $36!
I do appreciate the huge workload involved in hybridizing, but is that the average loss I should expect every time?
~Samantha

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Comments (4)

Gutzmek
10 years ago
Samantha,
I would stick to creating your own. Hib R.S are hit and miss with propagation and variety. As I always say, like people, not all twins are identical. Perfect example are Voodoo Magic, We Remember, and Night Runner are all offspring of the same two parent plants. If you research the picts, you will see the diversity. Hope this helps.
Ed
mooseblossoms
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi Ed :-)

Thanks for your response!

I understand how diverse Hib R.S.'s offspring can be. I think that's why I'm drawn to growing out various crosses instead of buying named plants. It's exciting to imagine what they might look like and I'm looking forward (many months forward!) to witnessing their first blooms.

I would love to hybridize my own. Maybe someday! But, currently, I have only two young plants: Purple Magic & Black Dragon. And I live in Maine with no greenhouse. Such a short season up here! I'd be very lucky to get a pod to maturity.

I was just wondering if any others that purchase seed find so many that are not viable. Is it the norm?

Here is my Black Dragon. I haven't had a bloom on the Purple Magic yet.
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Gutzmek
10 years ago
Samantha,
Fantastic bloom! Red Dragon is on my wish list of Dupont plants. Along with a few others :) . Getting hard to convince the wife I need to get more when new ones arrive on a monthly basis. (two more came in today).
Ed
Hibiscus_0bsessed
10 years ago
Beautiful bloom!! I have that one on my wish list as well.

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