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Post by Apoplast on Nov 4, 2012 19:35:40 GMT -5
Hi Lloyd - Welcome to the club! I've been told two things about germinating Roridula seeds successfully. 1) Sow them in autumn and let them get cold but not freezing (frost can even help) and 2) they need a good smoke treatment. For the latter I'm lazy and just use smoke primer disks. I soak them in a bowl with the disk for 24-48 hours. The combo of the two has given me good germination. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
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Post by lloyd on Nov 4, 2012 21:36:14 GMT -5
Apoplast: thanks, I'll put them outside for a few days and then use smoke treatment.
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Post by Apoplast on Nov 26, 2012 22:47:33 GMT -5
Good day all - Well I have good news and bad news on my flypaper plant front. The bad news is that the smaller of the two seedlings I have is looking rather sickly. Its never been strong, and I suspect it will be on its way out soon. Sorry I didn't take a picture of it - I'll try to remember if there is a next time. The good news is that the larger of the two looks like it might be starting to form its first branch! The apical growth point seems to have divided. I have included a picture of this below. I feel like that's not too bad for being just about a year old. DVG probably has got flowers by now though.
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Post by dvg on Nov 27, 2012 15:14:36 GMT -5
Wow! That's one healthy looking Roridula you have growing ther Apo! Keep us posted on how that one continues to grow out for you. dvg
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Post by Apoplast on Nov 28, 2012 15:42:16 GMT -5
Hi DVG - Will do. In the interest of full disclosure, here is my other plant. It has never been as happy as the first one. Always been sickly. It's the runt of the litter. Well, technically I lost one shortly after it germinated - so that was probably the runt, but this one is still not as robust as its sibling. I hope it makes it. But I've prepared myself if I can't keep it going.
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Post by Apoplast on Dec 14, 2012 15:15:07 GMT -5
Hi all - A quick update on the larger of my two Roridula seedlings. It turns out that a couple of the buds that I thought were new branches forming at the tip were actually flower buds! So, about a year and two months after it germinated, I have a flowering Roridula gorgonias. Is that typical? These little guys are proving faster and easier than I had initially feared. Anyhow, here is the shot of the little guy. I only hope this is not flowering as a last ditch effort because the plant is somehow on its way out. Either way, I've got to score some more seeds, I'm finding I really like this species. Thanks for looking!
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Post by hackerberry on Dec 14, 2012 16:58:23 GMT -5
Whoah, congrats on the flowering and best of luck with the pollination.
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Post by Apoplast on Dec 15, 2012 11:00:51 GMT -5
Thanks Hackerberry! I don't think I'll be pollinating it this time around. I don't want to weaken the little plant. Plus, I suspect that self-pollinated seeds would not be as strong of growers anyhow. I'm thinking of trying to get a little population of them going over the next few years, and then hopefully I can get seeds every year. That would be fun, and I'd have stuff to share with folks.
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Post by 31drew31 on Dec 15, 2012 11:43:57 GMT -5
Dang, nice flower Apoplast!
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Post by dvg on Dec 15, 2012 16:37:34 GMT -5
Congrats on the flowers Apo. If it was me, i'd be pollinating those flowers. Extras are always nice. dvg
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Post by cpgeek on Dec 15, 2012 19:31:14 GMT -5
Looks that you're doing a lot of right things there Apoplast. The earliest mine ever flowered was after 2 yrs. Your plant looks quite robust - I wouldn't be worried about it croaking. My own plants have set seed after selfing. The neat thing about gorgonias is that the growing point tends to fork or divide after the flower stalk, so you might soon have a 2-headed monster on your hands!
Rob
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Post by Apoplast on Dec 15, 2012 22:55:24 GMT -5
Thanks Drew and Doug! I'm thinking that I might have a go at trying to pollinate the flower.
Hi Rob - Thanks! It's good to know what other people have experienced with the time frame for flowering, especially knowledgeable rowers like yourself. Knowing this guy is a little early makes me feel like this little plant might be a bit vigorous, and worth trying for selfing. If you don't think it will keel over, I'll go for it and try to pollinate it. I am just nervous because it looks so small, especially compared with your huge dentata plant.
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Post by dvg on Mar 18, 2013 14:13:48 GMT -5
Not that anyone here would try this, but who knew that Roridula was so explosively flammable. I had noticed that my plant had some dried dead leaves near the base of the plant and figured it would be a good idea to just burn them off with an open flame from a BBQ lighter - VERY BAD IDEA!!!. One side of the plant went up in a wall of flames that i had to blow on furiously to extinguish. The funny thing is, i didn't just stop right there and then, and acting eerily similar to Sheldon knocking at Penny's door, i proceeded to try and even out the other sides of the plant with more flames. Needless to say, every active and open leave on the plant had some fire damage. Now, because fire is a natural part of these plant's habitat, the plant did survive and has made about six new leaves, but the plant is only a shadow of its former self. So fair warning: Roridula and fire don't mix too well at all. dvg
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Post by LucST on Mar 18, 2013 14:43:11 GMT -5
One attempt could be an anomaly. Two attempts could just be a fluke. Three attempts is spastically rellavent data. Hence you should have a n value of 3 or greater.
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Post by dvg on Mar 18, 2013 15:09:21 GMT -5
One attempt could be an anomaly. Two attempts could just be a fluke. Three attempts is spastically rellavent data. Hence you should have a n value of 3 or greater. Huh? What does that even mean? Hope it means i done good. Or as one late American humorist so deftly put it - "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." dvg
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