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Spring flowers

I've been sitting here jealously over the last 4-5 months while those of you in the northern hemisphere enjoyed showing of your flowers through Spring, Summer, and Autumn.

Well at last my plants have acknowledged that winter is over.

2x flowers this week.  One on a large N. ventricosa and the other (only just showing itself) on a N. albomarginata x veitchii.

N. ventricosa:
NVentFlower3.jpg


NVentFlower.jpg


N. albomarginata x veitchii:
NAlboXVeitchFlower.jpg


I don't know what sex the Vent is as yet but am told the hybrid (only had it a month) is male.

Aaron.
 
Yep male, you can see the little pollen popping out, save it in the freezer untill you get a female flower
 
Looks like the N. ventricosa will be female..

pollen popping out??? those are the flower buds
 
Congrats Aron! Hey if they are of oposite sex you could cross them and produce seed if all goes well,I don`t think that cross has been made before. Good luck!
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DUDE! You got a female Ventricosa! That totally rocks! I've never seen a female one before, but I've seen 5 clones that are boys. I bet you could find someone with a boy and get purebred seed
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Hi Aaron
Yes nice ,flowers ohh to be so lucky.
Bye for now Julian
 
Yea but Darcie why get purebred of a very common plant when you could get a hybrid that would likely be much more desireble both to the person creating the hybrid and people he trades\sells\gives away to in the future. Oh. and Srduggins definately had a female ventricosa.:)
 
screw purebred ventricosa. what you really want to do is to let me send you some N. campanulata pollen so we can make a nice new hybrid and enter it in cultivation. right now, i have an n. rokko x campanulata and northiana x campanulata hybrid in the works. i URGE you to be my campanulata's baby mama!
 
  • #10
i think he should get purebreds, because it would produce more females of the species, and thus give us more females for possible hybridization, and to delight future Cp'rs yet unknown!
 
  • #11
hey, you can always cross half the flowers with my campanulata and half the flowers with another ventricosa. just be sure the label them! i dont want a thousand baby ventricosas on my hands
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  • #12
Good idea.
 
  • #13
aw... i knew i shoulda colleccted the pollen on my ventricosa
 
  • #14
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]aw... i knew i shoulda colleccted the pollen on my ventricosa

Not another one!  I just heard from a local commercial grower that, only a few hours prior to me emailing him about my female Vent, said he'd cut off all his male flower spikes that he did not want to use this time around (including Truncata and Ventricosa 'squat').  I could have cried!  I sent an urgent email back to see if any were actually open and the pollen salvageable but did not hear back yet.

I like the idea of keeping plants in their pure species where possible and desirable, but given how common this form is and that I assume there is not shortage of other females (here in Australia at least due to mass production), I'm more inclined to cross it with something a bit more interesting.

Clint's N. campanulata offer certainly sounds interesting.

Q. Given the appearance of the flower spike and its stage of development, anyone hazard a guess as to how long until the flowers actually start to open?  Just trying to get an idea of how long I might have up my sleave to track down some suitable pollen.

Aaron.
 
  • #15
No, I say keep it purebreed. I think natural seed grown vents would be more valuble then any hybride you make. Plus most vents being so commen and such are clones and cuttings. I think having some natural seed grown plants is WAY better. Anyone can make hybrides but have a pure species is way cooler!
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  • #16
I vote for the cross, except I was hoping Clint would breed with my female vent so I could get some of the seed, but she is still resting from giving birth a month ago. - If anyone else still wants some purebred ventricosa seed, PM me your address. Not sure how much longer this stuff will remain viable.
 
  • #17
Well each seed is geneticly distinct from its parent and not only enhancing the species genetic diversity in cultivation (many plants orininate from a single clone, wich means that if it goes extinct in the wild there is no way to reintroduce it)

and genetic variety will also provide more variartions and thus more possible bases for future crosses.

But to satisfy both your desires, polinate it half and half. Never know what will result from the cross!
 
  • #18
hey steve, what can i say? i gotta get some lovin' while the gettin's good! aaron is in austrailia, and if we cant make a cross, then your my next bet!
 
  • #19
Aaron,

In relation to your query as to how long the flower spike takes to develop, it can take a fair while, up to 4-6 weeks or more depending on the species - they can get really, really long. If you've even seen a truncata in flower, you know that the flower stem can get several feet in length. You'll know when it's starting to get ready to open because the flower head starts to expand - whilst it's still growing, the flower head is very compact, then elongates at the end.
 
  • #20
Thanks Hamish.

I have seen pic of some mightly long flower spikes so will be interesting to see how big this one gets.

Aaron.
 
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