Will the Firecracker Flower grow back from seed every year if i plant?

tlbean2004

8 years ago

I got a firecracker flower( Crossandra infundibuliformis) plant from home depot a few weeks ago.

I know it is an annual at least in my zone 7B.

I also understand that it can be grown as a houseplant.

I was wondering if it will reliably regrow from seed every year if i chose to plant it outside?

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Comments (4)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years ago
Do you mean will it self seed outside? I don't know this plant personally but since it is a tropical species I doubt seed would survive the winter for you in z7. Apparently it does self sow in warmer zones. Crossandra info.
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tlbean2004
Original Author
8 years ago
I took some of the seed pods of my plant and they were all empty!

It turns out there is a sterile cultivar named "orange marmalade" this must be the one i got from lowes even though it was not named as such. I was hoping to be able to grow them from seed every year.

Dang!
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Cigar plants are also sometimes referred to as firecracker plants too, which can get confusing. ;o) However, when I think of a firecracker, I consider it to be the one roselee posted a link to. I'll post a link to cigar plant (cuphea ignea) below. Both firecracker and cigar plants come back for me here -- I am close to the Austin area. In an 8a, they might be a little less hardy. Despite what PlantFiles says, I have found firecracker to be a little more hardy for me than a cigar (cuphea). Firecracker will even sometimes stay evergreen or partially evergreen in an 8b as roselee indicated, whereas cigar usually dies all the way back for me and is a little slower to get going in the spring. Just my personal experience. I have also occasionally lost cigar plants in a hard winter (rare), but never firecracker. Here is a link that might be useful: Cuphea ignea (cigar)
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Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
8 years ago
Just a slight tweak to the terminology. A perennial doesn't become an annual by being taken to a place where it can't survive. Not an annual anywhere, just not hardy where you are. House plants are perennials that can't survive outside where they have been taken, so no reason to not try keeping it alive inside over winter, except for irritating personal issues like not enough space near a window. That's where I have to draw the line on what I'm trying to save each fall. ;) If this is a woody, evergreen entity, it may not mature enough from seed over the course of your growing season for seed-sprouting to be a method you could use.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
there is nothing that flowers this spring.. that probably has mature seeds ... i think you are looking too early ... though you should have seen immature white nodules ....

many cultivars carry a patent ... and the fee is paid on the sale of the seed ....

it would be highly shady for anyone to pay the royalty.. and then not brag about such.. by using the name ...

but this might be an older strain .. that the patent fell off of ... and the newer on.. an IMPROVED variety ...

take the latin... and add propagation ... to see how and when to take cuttings to try growing indoors ...

when i do this... i start such in early fall ... hoping to get a rooted plant growing out in shade in a pot ..... BEFORE i have to take them indoors ... perhaps i can take more cuttings before frost .. if the first wave fails ...

ken
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Will the Firecracker Flower grow back from seed every year if i plant?

Comments (4)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

tlbean2004
Original Author

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Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL

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Will the Firecracker Flower grow back from seed every year if i plant?

Comments (4)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

tlbean2004Original Author

Related Discussions

Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

tlbean2004
Original Author