SHOW US YOUR HOUSEPLANTS IN BLOOM NOW... 2021

Pic of a cutting taken last year and grown on over winter in warmth, hence the early display.
Streptocarpus v. Polka Dot

 

That is beautiful ... and purple is one of my favourite colours, green is the other so there is extra vroom in the pic.

 

Epiphyllum hybrid

 

Oxalis " Cupido ". Last year's and this new one, planted up on 4/4/2021
Jenny namaste

 

phalaenopsis orchid

 

BEGONIA Albo-Picta
This variety needs very little light. this cutting from last year has grown fast like a rocket



This year it decided to flower much earlier then normal.

It normally flowers from late summer till January

Good for me as i cant wait to get the seeds
(80k seeds per flower!)
Worth more then gold!

 

Begonia jolly silver Flower (Rare hybrid)

If all goes to plan
I will get some seeds

A possibility of a brand new type of begonia hybrid?
Yes please

 

I have no kitchen at the moment so these two are living in the shed. They are doing remarkably well considering they have very little light and virtually no water.

G.

 

I can't help asking, but do you know what the seeds from these begonias are likely to turn out.?

 

I self fertlised the begonia albo last year
(Mother Plant on the left in photo below)


It gave me so many seeds i planted a few hundred to check viablity
They were very successful.
I palletised the rest at home
Planted a few to check viablity
Again they were successful

And sold the rest online for a total price of £900+
but kept a few hundred pellets for future tests for experiments regarding viablity.

Below are fotos of last years seeds:




Its all grown up now



The plant in the middle is how they turn out when self fertlised

The plant on the right is a cutting from last year. It came from the mother plant
The plant in the centre is the offspring of the mother plant
The plant on the left is an old school begonia called
Begonia Lucerna






The flowers you see on the albo picta have been mostly self fertlised
The rest are a secret

 

Well the one on the left looks a better plant.
Just dont think you can guarantee what the seedlings will turn out like when you grow from seed.

Must say the leaf shape on the one on the left of the three, looks like one I used to grow about 40 yrs ago.
Its different from the mother plant.

The one on the left of the two looks different again.

 

There seems to be a run on cane Begonias at the moment, B&Q had about 30 all from tissue culture, as most house plants today are. I have had them in the past but grow to leggy for me and didn't look right cut back although I had a good show of them in the Palm House in Weymouth decades ago.
I don't have the patience for hybridising now.

 

Just found out that begonia semperflorens is one of the most important flower crops in the world!
In 2009 it was the fourth largest bedding plant in the USA value over 36 million dollers
And lets not forget plants grow from air

 

The Oxalis " Cupido " today. It is becoming a monster now and is excluding light from the NE facing window :



Jenny namaste