Cyphostemma juttae Fruit and Planting

Kathy from the Cactus Club gave me some fruit from one of her Cyphostemma juttae plants.  I read up on how to germinate these seeds -

Hopefully one of the seven seeds germinates.

Cyphostemma sp Madagascar Seedling Update

Here's an update on the Cyphostemma sp Madagascar seedling.  The true leaves are starting to emerge from the central growth point.  The cotyledons are now turning green. 

I think it is safe to say this plant is doing well.

And here is the parent plant also doing rather nicely.

Nathan's Myrmephytum selebicum

Nathan loaned this plant to me so I can harvest all the seeds and get some seedlings going.  He said it has been pushing fruit every three days or so.

The first fruit he had given me this past Tuesday (CSSH August Meeting) had already germinated when I added the next two fruits (5 days to germinate).

This is a really unusual plant - blue colored flowers!!!  I can get most ant plant seeds to germinate, but getting them to grow past the cotylendon stage is definitely challenging. 

Stay tuned to see how this goes!

Cyphostemma sp Madagascar Seed Germinated

The Cyphostemma sp Madagascar I got from Nathan had a seed on it.  I planted the seed on July 10th (I checked the past blog entries - and that is why I maintain this blog) and this morning as I passed it I noticed it had germinated.

So it took a little over three weeks to germinate.  As I've stated before, I'll be posting on this plant as it continues to develop.  The parent plant is doing great (I'll post pictures of that one too in the coming days).

More Ant Plant Seeds... Are these Ever Going to Stop???

My Ant Plants won't stop fruiting... 

That's not a bad thing, but I do feel compelled to plant all the seeds and give the plants a chance.  And now that I'm thinking about it - the window sills are starting to fill up with recycled take out food containers.

I like it!!!

Gymnocalycium Fruit

This makes me want to eat it!

Cyphostemma sp Madagascar Seed

I have been keeping an eye on this seed on the Cyphostemma sp Madagascar.  It finally dried out and was ready to harvest off the plant.

I planted it this morning in a 2" pot of Black Gold C&S soil mix just over a seed width deep and watered it thoroughly.  I'll keep track of this seed's progress as I'm not sure how many of these plants are out there.

Germinating Baobabs

I came onto some baobab seeds recently.  They've been sitting around my work area at the house just staring back at me.  Then I got the inkling to see how these seeds could be germinated.  Youtube had a video with instructions on how to germinate them within 5 days.  5 days is a lot shorter than the natural methods - where the seeds may actually never germinate.  I figured I had nothing to lose so this past Sunday I broke out the Dremel and got started.  I ground off a small part of the seed cover.  These get soaked in water for a couple of days.

Here are the seeds after almost three days of soaking in water.  They've swelled up quite a bit from their original size.

Last night I peeled the seed hull away from the inner seed and now four of the five seeds are sitting in a container sandwiched between two wet paper towels.  I got pretty aggressive on one so that is why there are only four left.

Maybe by this Sunday I should be able to plant them in a pot of soil.  Talk about a major difference in timing...

Ant Plants Fruiting

All of my ant plants save two (H. puffii) have been pushing out lots of fruit.

I've been trying to get them all cleaned up and planted to get a new generation going.

Adenium Seeds

My cousin Paul gave Noe and I a bunch of Adenium seeds.  I've got the set I'm growing potted up and waiting for the first standups.

Seedlings and Cuttings (Euphorbia esculenta and flanaganii - and maybe globosa and gorgonis)

I know these two came from the globosa and gorgonis (or something else - but not the flanaganii or esculenta).

And these seedlings are getting settled in their new pots.

Last but certainly not least - these cuttings are really plumping up

On the Ground -

I can't seem to consistently germinate my ihi seeds -

I've gotten six seeds to sprout in this setup, but the last batch hasn't been doing much if anything (details on the batch that germinated are in older posts - just look up Portulaca molokiniensis).  That said, I was cleaning up the backyard area where I keep most of my xeric plants and I looked down to see if there were any weeds I needed to pull.

Instead I saw these popping up all over the place.  I'm not sure if these are P. molokiniensis or P. lutea since I have both plants above on the bench and both plants have been spilling seeds all over.  I'll just let them grow out a bit more then transplant them.  A little further over, I even saw some  purslane/hogweed growing - this corner is a veritable nursery!

Starting to Grow Out

I recently transplanted these from the container I used to germinate them - they were starting to lean over (lazy, not enough air movement, who knows). 

Well after a few days, they are starting to perk up again.  Whew!!!  I was getting a little worried - these are nothing like their lutea cousins.  The lutea grow like weeds while these take monumental effort to even germinate (let alone grow out).  Keep your fingers crossed...

Cactus Seedlings

Noe's batch

My batch

Latest Batch of Seeds from the Portulaca Molokiniensis

I was checking on the plants this morning before leaving for work and behold - the recent pollinating efforts have yielded fruit (seeds)!!!

I'm going to try a different method to germinate these.  I'm going to wait a few days - the last batch I threw in to the container and only one of all those seeds germinated.  There has got to be a better way to get these to grow.

More Portulaca Molokiniensis Seeds from the Recent Pollinations

Fruits of Labors of Love!!! 

I already planted these in the container where I am growing out the others.  Hopefully some of these will germinate - of all the seeds I've ever gotten from my ihi plants, I've only gotten the five currently growing to germinate...

Well This is a Surprise!

The Portulaca molokiniensis seeds only took a few days to germinate.  I used the plastic wrap tent method and three have already popped up.  The literature I've read said two months - these popped up in three days.  Noe originally thought the first may have been a weed - but with two others behind it, we have ruled that out.

If I can get these to grow out, I will have cracked a big nut in being able to propagate ihi!  I say that because some of the other seeds I've germinated haven't made it - mortality is pretty high with seedlings.  I'm pretty excited - stay tuned.

Germinating More Ant Plant Seeds

The Myrmecodia beccarii had seven or eight seed pods just hanging out.  I went ahead and plucked them all and brought them into the kitchen to clean them up.

Since I was inside the house, I figured I should try to germinate these under slightly different conditions than the others I've germinated earlier - these are going upstairs into the Master bathroom window sill.  Each pod had four seeds (except two - one had 2 and the other 3).  That's a lot of seeds...  These take a while to get going - two weeks has been my experience.

I ended up doing the same thing with three berries from the Hydnophytum formicarum.

These Hydnophytum seeds germinate quick - two days and the plant has pushed out.

Trying to Germinate Portulaca molokiniensis Seeds

The kids and I have had a lot of success growing the Portulaca molokiniensis, both from leaf cuttings (more difficult) and rooted cuttings we've bought from nurseries.  The key is to use very free draining media and to give them as much direct sunlight as they can get.  The barrier we have not been able to cross (yet) is growing them from seed.  I've been plying the web and 

From the blog "Hawaii Horticulture":

Seeds are another way to propagate the Molokini ihi. The seeds are very small and are easily lost in a potting mix. Collect seeds from the cone-shape fruits just as they ripen. If the fruits open before you get to them, chances are the seeds will be lost. Spread the seeds along the top of the mix but do not cover. Keep the mix moist and in about two months the seedlings will start to appear. Keep the mix just barely moist, being careful to not overwater. Any overwatering at this point will cause rots to form and the seedlings will be lost.

From the website of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii at Manoa:

The 1/4 inch fruits of Portulaca molokiniensis are capsules shaped like pointed eggs and are filled with dark-brown to black, slightly sticky seeds. The capsules split open when ripe. To collect seeds, place mature unopened fruit in a container such as a paper bag and allow them to open naturally. Sow the seeds on the surface of moist, sterile, well draining mix such as 2 parts perlite and 1 part potting soil. Do not cover the seeds with planting mix. Germination takes about 2 (Koob) to 3 (NTBG) months. (Koob 1998; NTBG 1992)

So following the advice of these sites, I've made a mix of 2:1 perlite to soil and filled a shallow container.  The seeds I recently gathered have been placed on top of the mix and I sprayed some water into the container.  Now to wait the 2 months - yes 2 months.

Those two big seeds (relative) are from the Euphorbia globosa (another post).