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Post by StickyIcky on Mar 1, 2015 13:15:37 GMT -5
Hey everyone! Shot in the dark,does anyone grow King Protea? My wife is looking to buy some seeds, but I was wondering if by chance someone here is already growing it and may have some to offer. It's a few years investment before anything flowers with the seed route, so I figured I'd ask!
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Post by H2O on Mar 1, 2015 14:13:41 GMT -5
This will be my first year growing Protea cynaroides, I can let you know how it does. Got my seeds from Silverhill Seeds. Great company and worth ordering from.
Out of curiosity how do you plant to overwinter them?
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Post by lloyd on Mar 1, 2015 18:24:32 GMT -5
I grew some from Silverhill last summer. They did well for a long time but I think the cold wet fall killed them off. If you're going to try them, try to simulate a Mediterranean climate, poor, well drained soil.
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Post by StickyIcky on Mar 2, 2015 6:30:10 GMT -5
I haven't looked too far into their requirements, but we have a little mini greenhouse setup indoors that they could spend the winter in. I was curious if anyone had grown them and successfully. It's my wife's favorite flower, she had a them at our wedding and everything. She was also born in Southern Africa where it grows in the wild so there's some sentimental attachment to them. South Africa's national flower!
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Post by StickyIcky on Mar 2, 2015 6:37:02 GMT -5
And well of course if anyone was actively growing them I'd be interested in buying some. But information is just as good.
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Post by H2O on Mar 2, 2015 15:15:07 GMT -5
They are a beautiful plant, I got to see several species in the Cape a couple year backs, truly inspiring plants to see.
I would do some hard thinking of what you'll do with them in the winter, they need to cool winters but as Lloyd said they can't be wet during that time. A heated coldframe would be a much better choice then inside for the winter.
Can't wait to see how your project turns out, I'll keep you updating with mine this spring, seeds are getting treated and sown this week.
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Post by StickyIcky on Mar 2, 2015 17:47:52 GMT -5
Are you smoke treating the seeds?
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Post by StickyIcky on Mar 2, 2015 17:48:09 GMT -5
Cool in the winter isn't a problem. The basement gets nice and cool, and this little greenhouse is easy to move around. I only sprung it up before spring and added lights to house a few capensis that overgrew my plant space, and a few of my wife's succulents that were suffering on the windowsill. I figure in the winter, they could be housed in there. We were in South Africa in October, but unfortunately, didn't see any
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Post by H2O on Mar 2, 2015 18:01:42 GMT -5
The cool basement will be good for housing them for the winters and probably even the summer while their small. They do dislike summer heat. Yes Ill be smoke treating them What part is South Africa where you visiting?
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Post by lloyd on Mar 2, 2015 18:05:03 GMT -5
Make sure you have good air flow and light. Not high humidity. You must have smoke. I can give you some-just tell me how many seeds you have.
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Post by Apoplast on Mar 2, 2015 23:16:50 GMT -5
Hi Icky - I'd concur that Silverhill is a good choice of seed source. Smoke disks, available from another vendor work well to germinate them. Silverhill has a summer blooming strain which is a bit more tolerant of varied conditions and will bloom when you can get them out in the sun. I have to disagree with others that you need to keep them dry in winter. They are a fynbos species, and so get most of their water in the cool wet winters. Cool being operative; not cold. The big difficulty with Mediterranean climate species is that they tend to do most of their growing in these cool wet winters, when temperate climate growers are trying to "overwinter" them in cold, dark conditions. The closer you can get to a summer growing strain the better off you'll be. Good luck!
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Post by StickyIcky on Mar 3, 2015 6:31:30 GMT -5
The cool basement will be good for housing them for the winters and probably even the summer while their small. They do dislike summer heat. Yes Ill be smoke treating them What part is South Africa where you visiting? H2O, We landed in Johannesburg, and spent two weeks driving around. We drove up to Lesotho first (my wife's birthplace) and spent a few days travelling there, and then came back to SA, did Krueger Park, Nthambo park, and so on. We put like 5000 km on that cube van haha. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it anywhere near the cape. Next time!
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Post by StickyIcky on Mar 3, 2015 6:32:55 GMT -5
Thanks everyone!
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Post by StickyIcky on Mar 3, 2015 12:11:05 GMT -5
You order the smoke discs from Africa?
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Post by lloyd on Mar 3, 2015 14:49:32 GMT -5
I have smoke granules which worked for the King Protea. If you want some, PM me how many seeds you will be germinating & your address and I can send you some.
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