Sunshine Ray has seeds pods....Thank You Maria Elena :)
I was twirling with the paintbrush (like Maria Elena had said to do) to all the blooms the other day, soooo who knows what they will turn out to be. They (3 pods...2 at top and 1 towards the bottom) are on my Sunshine Ray Adenium and that was the first to bloom for me (on my Birthday), so that makes it special and also because of the name :)
I haven't seen any more seed pods.....yet!
Maria Elena,
I haven't forgot about sending you the small Bromeliad (one you said didn't survive) and the seeds (A. arabicum) and I will be taking the cutting off that white Plumeria soon (it's almost long enough to cut), but you will have to let it callous over before you try to root it. Do you have a Bromeliad that's named Matchstick? I can send you one of them if you like....they grow about a foot tall or so and shoot out these bracts.
Happy Gardening, Jeannie :)
Comments (15)
splinter1804
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoHi everyone - Although that bromeliad is commonly known as the "Match stick plant", the correct botanical name is Aechmea gamosepala. It is a species and one of the most widely grown Aechmeas in Australia. It is a popular plant for beginners as it's very easy to grow, but if planted in the garden and not confined to a pot, it can become quite invasive.
All the best, Nev.
Jeannies_Garden (Tx 9a) thanked splinter1804Related Discussions
Any good seedpods or flowers coming along?
Comments (207)Elena, Your Pink Nymph is beautiful and really pretty color!! I bought one several years and it was a mislabel, I don't remember what but I was hoping for what you got! Donna...See MoreMy first Sonatini and more to come....
Comments (77)Carl, Most likely it's a little bit of both. I do think the bulbs were on the small side and of course, they weren't rooted but of course, we've all had non rooted bulb bloom their hearts out when they first arrive. In fact as I think about it I'd say it was their small size, not the fact that they weren't rooted. Fred, Yes, you do! I had to do a seedling search and I found only 2 seedlings that survived that have obvious leaves but I see 2 tiny stubs of bulbs that haven't grown leaves yet this season. I then checked my cache of seeds and I don't have any left. I would surmise that from the looks of the seedlings this is not a vigorous cross, but maybe I'll end up with 2 which is better than nothing. :-))...See MoreBasics for a newbie
Comments (45)Ed, Your seedlings look great. Do you have them outside? They love sunshine, just don't let them dry out. They appear to be in cardboard rolls ... is that right? I have seen this method. Since you are asking about growth rate, I will share my experience. Keep in mind that genetics plays a big role in how each individual seedling develops. I grow my seeds in egg cartons and carefully transplant them at 1 month old into small yogurt cups. I find they are the perfect size & height for the seedlings until they reach 3 months. Once transplanted, I begin fertilizing weekly, weakly. During this time, the caudex will begin to fatten up. After 3 months, I transplant to 3" pots and faster draining medium. In my case, that's 50/50 perlite & cactus mix. They remain in these pots until the age of 6 months. During this time the caudex will become fatter, the height will noticeably increase, and the seedling will begin to 'leaf out,' forming double leaves, with some branching out on their own. I only have 5 month olds, so that's all I can share so far. I'll try to add a link to one of my posts for comparison. With respect to your albino seedling, Gill is correct ... if it fails to green up, it will abort eventually. Keep your hopes up. I had a similar that just stayed too long in the seed cover then suddenly just greened up and it's 4 months old & branching on its own now. All the best, Maria Elena Edit: Here's the link I mentioned: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3943465/progression-my-first-small-group-of-seedlings?n=23...See MoreThe 12Adenium seeds are planted...
Comments (22)They are looking great, Jeannie. So happy to see some survived those tricky, cool, clammy days. Each one is for a different bloom, so you will enjoy a lovely little adenium garden with these next spring/summer. In the meantime, enjoy watching them grow into fatsos. One of my 11-month-olds, grown from seed, is blooming. Can't wait to meet those flowers! It was from one of my first mixed seed packets, so I have no idea what it'll be ... Probably another single pink ;-p Maria Elena PS: Please get some Triple Action NEEM Oil (Southern AG, $10/8 oz), broad spectrum fungicide, insecticide, miticide for those spider mites. Mix 1 tblsp per gallon and spray everything (plants, underside of leaves, and surrounding area) around 6 pm when the sun is setting. In the morning, before 10 am, rinse off everything with a hose so the remaining residue doesn't cause leaf burn under full sun. Repeat every 3 days until the problem has been eradicated. Godspeed....See MoreJeannies_Garden (Tx 9a)
4 years agoJeannies_Garden (Tx 9a)
4 years agoJeannies_Garden (Tx 9a)
4 years ago
Maria Elena (Caribbean - USDA Zone 13a)
4 years agoHi, Jeannie ... So nice to hear from you. Sorry, I haven't been on Houzz lately and am just seeing this.
Congratulations on your seed pod! You've definitely done better than me ... I only have one lone pod on an immature two year old. I hope it makes it. Yours look robust. Great job ... Keep twirling!
These were the bromeliads you sent me, along with a lighter green one that died within the 1st week ... They were three minis:
The one on the left with horizontal stripes on the underside was my favorite. It threw off a pup, then died. The geckos kept digging up the poor tiny 1" pup until it finally dried out completely and died, as well. I kept moving it, but they kept finding it! The one on the right is the only one that lived and is doing well.
Thanks for offering the matchstick. I will decline because I'm trying to keep a mini footprint on the bromeliads for now.
I found a local producer and have started using earthworm castings and tea. It's incredible just in terms of seed germination. It's like a probiotic for the soil and deactivates the microorganism that causes damping off. The first time I added it to my soil, I got 40 out of 42 seeds to germinate with zero damping off. With the prior germination in March, half of my seeds germinated and half of those dampened off and died. It's so good to finally find something that renews the soil. I am using the tea as a foliar drench.Happy gardening.
Maria Elena
Jeannies_Garden (Tx 9a) thanked Maria Elena (Caribbean - USDA Zone 13a)Jeannies_Garden (Tx 9a)
4 years agoI just took this picture of the 3 seed pods on my Sunshine Ray :)
They are growing larger!
This is the lower single one....it's not as large as the other two.
This is the first for Adenium seeds, so I hope to collect them all. When should I start covering or using wire on them?
I've been sooooo busy with my job (Realtor) that I have not had time to care for all of my plants, so I 'm not able to check on the seed pods daily! Thanks, Jeannie :)
Maria Elena (Caribbean - USDA Zone 13a)
4 years agoMaria Elena (Caribbean - USDA Zone 13a)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoBy the way, someone recently gifted me a Aechmea gamosepala, she said with a blue flower. The problem is I know very little about bromeliads and don't know which of the several I received it is. I think it's the light green one but am unsure. I know there's a Billbergia "Red Torch" somewhere in there. The spotted one is Billbergia "Fantasia" ... I think. Maybe @splinter1804 can help.
I got into bromeliads 'by mistake' through working with air plants and dyckias. I have a few minis and medium sized ones. One of these days I will venture out and get a spectacular and huge Black Chantinii - Aechmea, which I have always loved. In the meantime, I have a Billbergia nutans hybrid and a couple of Neoregelias. I also have these with no ID ... I am a little afraid of that last one with the light stripes on the underside of its leaves because the way it connects to its pup is via a very thick and hard whatchamacallit. I think it has the potential to be invasive. What do you think?
Maria Elena
splinter1804
4 years agoHi everyone.
Maria
Elena – Firstly let me tell you about your Aechmea
gamosepala; this is one of the many bromeliad species (as they come from
the wild). It is an easy to grow plant but if not contained in a pot can become
quite invasive. It’s hard to say which of the plants in your pictures is a
gamosepala without seeing a flower, but it would be one of the green leafed plants
in picture 1, 3, 4 or 5. See pictures below:This what the flowers of Ae. gamosepala look like..........
.........and this is how they can become invasive when not in a pot.
Red
Torch is the common name usually given to Billbergia
pyramidalis because of its beautiful
red torch shaped inflorescence. It too is hard to positively identify without
seeing the flower, but it is definitely one of the plain green leafed ones in your
plant collection and has a much wider leaf than Ae.
gamosepala.Billbergia pyramidalis
Here
in Australia it is often grown in the garden and will quickly make up into a
nice clump which becomes a blaze of red when it flowers. Unfortunately, like
most Billbergias, the flowers are short lived. The other problem it has is that
it can be a bit tender if grown in cold conditions which will mark the foliage.Although
there are many spotted types of Billbergias you are probably correct in saying
the plant with the spotted foliage is Billbergia ‘Fantasia’. It is a beautiful
plant and you will find that when it flowers there is a magnificent contrast of
colours with the red flowers against the spotted green and white background.See: http://registry.bsi.org/?genus=BILLBERGIA&id=830#830
You
say, “I got into bromeliads 'by mistake' through working with air plants and
dyckias”. The thing is that air plants (Tillandsias) and dyckias are bromeliads as well. Because Tillandsias have had the common title of “air plants” due to their
growth habit and dyckias more
resemble succulents in their growth habit, it's often not realised they are
bromeliads as well.You
mention your desire to own one of the black coloured Aechmea chantinii plants – What can I say except “join the club” as
I too would love to grow one of these beautiful plants. The big problem I must
warn you about though is that they are very cold sensitive; I have tried three
times to grow them but each time winter comes around they mark badly and start
to go backwards and eventually die. Consequently I’ve given up on trying to
grow them. If you have somewhere you can put them away from the winter cold you
shouldn’t have a problem, but just be warned.You
say, “I am a little afraid of that last one with the light stripes on the
underside of its leaves because the way it connects to its pup is via a very
thick and hard whatchamacallit” – Firstly the “whatchamacallit” is known as the
“stolon” and your plant could either be an Aechmea
or Billbergia and again it’s hard to
say until you see the flowers. As for it being invasive, they are nowhere as
invasive as other types such as Ae
gamosepala and similar plants. Usually these stoloniferous type plants do
very well when mounted on a tree or grown in a hanging basket so they can
spread out naturally as nature intended.I
must apologise as I didn’t set out to “write a book”, but I’ve tried to answer
your questions as well as I can and I hope I've been of some help.All
the best, Nev.
splinter1804