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More Heliamphora progress . . .

Here are a few shots from this afternoon of a couple of my "windowsill" Heliamphora -- H. nutans and H. x "Tequila". As the days and, more importantly, the nights have grown cooler, all of the plants are rapidly producing new leaves and some even preparing to flower . . .

This Heliamphora nutans was taken from a recent division and is, finally, actively growing (since the older leaves are clearly worse for wear):

Hnutans.jpg
Hnutans2.jpg



The Heliamphora x "Tequila" was from a recent trade (thanks again) and is producing its first flower scape, along with new leaves:

H-x-Tequila.jpg
 
Great helis like always! :) COngratulations on the flower scape, hoping to get seeds?
 
Great helis like always! :) COngratulations on the flower scape, hoping to get seeds?

Thanks. We'll see about the seeds. I had some success in 2005-06 with H. ionasii and H. heterodoxa x minor but wasn't around for the flowering of some of the rarer varieties . . .
 
awesome! I love looking at your helis.
 
Very nice, congrats on the flowers. Which species make up H. 'Tequila'?
 
Very nice, congrats on the flowers. Which species make up H. 'Tequila'?

Thanks. It would seem that the "Tequila" cross -- if it is a cross at all -- is a proprietary secret of Exotica Plants in Australia who developed it; and they're not saying a thing. It may simply be a form of the highly-variable Heliamphora tatei, as some have suggested -- and that may not be far from the truth; or, if it is a hybrid, it just may be H. tatei x ionasii or some similar cross. Both cultivated Heliamphora and those in the wild are extremely variable in appearance, where even an increase in shade by 20% can significantly alter the shape, size, and color of the the pitchers of many species . . .
 
I am curious- when your heterodoxa x minor produced seed, was it selfed, or did you cross it with another plant? Mine is flowering again, and my previous attempts to self it have not produced seed. Not sure if I should try again, or look for pollen.
 
I am curious- when your heterodoxa x minor produced seed, was it selfed, or did you cross it with another plant? Mine is flowering again, and my previous attempts to self it have not produced seed. Not sure if I should try again, or look for pollen.

My Heliamphora heterodoxa x minor is now rather large and generally sends up several scapes at a time; and I've used the flowers of many interchangeably over the years. But they are genetically identical, since the Heliamphora began as a single plant.

Hheteroxminor.jpg


The plants are self-fertilizing and inter-fertile among species, and the real trick is in the timing in getting a sufficient amount of pollen transferred to a receptive stigma. The flowers require cross-pollination and I used both the tuning-fork method mentioned by Peter D'Amato in The Savage Garden and also physically tore open a few of the anthers (pollen sacs) -- a method used by Don Schnell to ensure ample pollen collection.

A paintbrush was utilized to apply a good amount of pollen to the stigma (which is only receptive for a few days, then discolors) of another freshly-opened flower. It took about eight weeks for seed to be produced . . .
 
:drool: I love that heli!
 
  • #10
Thanks. That one started as a tiny division in a 2" pot . . .
 
  • #11
Really? How long did it take to reach that point? Also how big is that pot?
 
  • #12
It's in a 8" pot or so and is about six years old . . .
 
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