Portlandia, Cubanola & Juanulloa

A few flowers today-
Portlandia grandiflora, Cubanola domingensis, Juanulloa aurantiaca in Mesua ferrea leaves.

David, Fl

David, those look nice. We've just come through mid winter so it's not long and our rains will come. Time to start thinking about what new plants to get. Although, I've been getting a few through winter, it's far better to plant in the rainy season. I'd like to find some of that Portlandia.

The Portlandia is very nice, can't tell from that pic, but in this one (it isns't very good so I didn't post it initially) the flowers are big-5 or 6 inches long. Plus it blooms when small and pretty often but doesn't set seed much so is pretty rare. Also have P albiflora which has very similar, flowers just a little smaller. The one I want now has smaller flowers but they are bright red, P coccinea. Have never even seen that one.

David, Fl

Hi David -

those are georgous! Where did you get them, from somewhere locally or did you mail order?

Portlandia is a genus I have had interest in for quite some time and searched for a long time to find these (Cubanola used to be in the genus). I an not real sure were I got them, but I have seen them on toptropicals. Jaunuolla is a little easier to get, got that at a nusrsery in Sarasoa but have seen that at plant sales and a few mail-order places. The Juanuolla was very slow growing, didn't do anything for awhile, now it grows fast and blooms pretty much as long is it is warm. The Portlandias (I have other species) and Cubanola all have an amazing smell during the might,

Cubanola flowers are so ciool, very long and narrow (as you can see) and last longer, were on the plant for just about 2 weeks, giving my room a wonderful smell at night (pant is small and mobile.) The flowers onit and the Poatlandia sps. always come in pairs.

David

Where can I find this plant? Anyone know??

I am rooting some of the last one, have seedlings of Cubanola. The first two are tough to find.

Ah, good fortune lead me to this! I was going nuts trying to find the name of the Cubanola domingensis..I knew it was Cuba...something...This saved me some time!
My small plant is loading up with blooms, never seen that many before..which had me searching.
thanks..
Rj

That is an awesome plant in bloom
David

Great. I have been wanting this plant for a bit. If they are up for sale I would like to purchase one please.

Very beautiful plants! Do you have them in the ground or in containers?


This message was edited Aug 20, 2013 10:29 PM

Containers, in south Florida they could go in the ground

David

Do you know how much sun the Juanulloa aurantiaca can take?

Mine is in full sun

What kind of fertilizer? Acidic or Alkaline? Can I treat them like a Brugmansia?

Thanks for the info. I read they needed shade. I have a spot that gets sun until about 1PM. I was worried it would get too much sun but if you have yours in full sun it should be fine.

I guess when I said full sun I meant it had at least 6 hours of sun a day. Mine gets sun till about 2, then is in shade. It has grown a ton and flowered much more since I moved it into that site. Just watch the water. I use a fast draining soil less media that does hold some water but i have to be careful, it get very unhappy if it dries out.

David

Thanks so much!
I'll definitely be getting one.

I love it, blooms all the warm months.

Mine is dropping buds, may need repotted, small pot. I fertilized mine with hibiscus fertilizer and it went crazy putting out buds, may be too many for it to handle in small pot. I just moved it to more shade. Don't want to re pot during blooms...thoughts??

Thanks bunches Dave

Mine is in a large pot, but the plant is huge so I don't know if it's roots are tight. Use a foliar fertilizer a couple times a month. If it's got blooms I'd leave it, I have noticed if I move it it will drop buds, so I'd wait, probably to spring, unless it goes in a hothouse and grows during the winter (mine does unless it doesn't get enough water, drops it's leaves).

Got a pic RJ?
David

Thanks for advice,it does go to green house in winter. Have pic on phone but don't think we can upload to DG yet?

here it is, a wee scrappy

That is a beauty. My last post was About Juanualla. If leave that alone until after it blooms. Then repot right away, our areas have enough time before it cools off so shouldn't go into total shock. Don't think the plants get real full until, if ever, they get large. It's a very nice looking plant!

David

It must be stressed, it dropped more buds last night. Might try the foliar feeding, but prob just need to leave it alone!

Probably didn't like having its picture taken. I have notice when they form buds its best to just leave them alone. Once they open I bring it inside to enjoy the smell.

d

rjuddharrison ~ Looks stressed to me but I am no expert. Would a drop or two of super thrive help any?

Rhapsody

It might, but I think I'd be on the verge of "loving it to death"

SuperThrive? Oh, Rhapsody, I wish you hadn't mentioned it! Have you noticed recently the new packaging card on it no longer contains all the outrageous hype it used to?

I have never, ever seen so much hype crammed on one packaging card. The whole 5in. by 8in card attached to the bottle was filled with outrageous claims, bogus statements like "BioUsables" "Millions of molecules of World's science Miracles in each drop". Yikes, talk about sounding too good to be true!

Everybody who has had doubts and done a bit of digging has come up with startling facts - this product is banned in several states because it contains an unregulated growth hormone. It should be kept cool, and loses its potency over time if kept outdoors (like my 4-yr. old bottle was). Its main ingredient is vitamin B1, and there are lots of studies showing that vitamins in general are not beneficial to plants. The concensus (so far) seems to be that all it really does is stimulate root growth, and it should not be sprayed on the foliage of orchids, or any other plant in bud or flower, as it can cause deformed flowers and other anomalies.

Scroll down this thread http://www.orchidboard.com/community/beginner-discussion/322... to a long post by Ray Barkalow, who did his own small informal study on it.

Then this fellow seems to have gone much further into researching it http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/886436-all-you...

I am still on the quest, but what does everyone think about this? Is it just another potion that you're afraid to stop using because it "might be doing some good"? Our society spends billions on vitamins, supplements and "cures" that people buy because of hype, and then are afraid to stop. But to me, here's the most damning thing so far, in tiny print on the bottom of the back of the card, so small I had to use a magnifying glass to read it, it says:

"NON-WARRANTY: Makers cannot be responsible for use, whether or not thought to be according to directions (which have seemed valuable to 100% of users following them). However, write, with your phone number if you have a question on how to have easier plant success with SUPERthrive."

So much for their Double Money Back Guarantee, Greatest Guarantee- Offer PROOF Ever, Guarantee to be World Champion. (of what?) They did win a science medal at the 1940 World's Fair . . .

Bottom line - use it for rooting cuttings and transplants but never, ever spray it on a blooming plant. That stuff is expensive snake oil if ever there was some. jmho.

WOW. All of that for a simple suggestion. Thank you.

I have found the are certain chemicals called Recovery and the like that also help cuttings and newly acquired plants (eBayers!) to get over the shock.

As for plants that I am repotting I add some sort of conditioner or fertilizer that has humus and the various forms of beneficial bacteria/fungi. The are many, from $ to $$$$$, and some are crap. But I see a huge increase in root mass and growth in the plants. I have found my favorites, both a soil additive and fertilizers, but each area probably has different choice and plant different needs.

Something to keep in mind

dp

Yes, sorry for the long rant there, Rhapsody. It's just that I really resent the high price of that little bottle of magic potion, and also feeling like a fool for not reading the outrageous label first.

Elaine, the guy who invented it died a year or so ago and the formula has changed. Don't really know if it si better or wrose but the price has dropped and you can get it at Walmart now. I have never used it for foliar application but find it does help with transplant shock and rejuvenating dried up container plants and hanging baskets. A good soak and they are back to normal.

I shunned it for years because of the silly hype but when I personally saw respected growers using it I figured it could not be all bad.

I too know people that swear by it. I found other things work better.

dp

I have a Friend who uses it on the plants he takes care of at the mall and some of the office buildings here in Long beach. He suggest super thrive and Dyna Gro products. They have never failed me. But I use them as a soak (drench). I have not sprayed anything with the super thrive. I, personally, am happy with the product. That is my two cents!! LOL
Rhapsody

It was recommended to me by knowledgeable people when I first started growing orchids, too. Since then the orchid gurus have gradually given up on it. I have started using Epsom salts and Dyna-Gro Pro Tekt 'The Silicon Solution' instead, there is lots of good solid facts to support those two. They are added to my sprayer for the orchids, and a lot of my other plants get a drench once in a while, too. They are all doing much better now than they ever have.

I don't know if the SuperThrive was setting them back or if the other additives are just better. But the couple of days' research I did sure had nothing good to show for SuperThrive other than as a rooting supplement.

David~ Do you suggest growing them in pots or in the ground? I do not have much ground space left. Your look so pretty and well kept. Do they suffer root shock when trasplanting?
Thanks
R

Elaine mentioned keeping ST in the fridge; I heard a grower speaking a while ago and he mentioned Rootone should be kept in the fridge. Who knew? Most of us have had a jar of that on the garage shelf for years. Guess that is why most pros have gone with Dip & Grow.

The hydroponics stores carry some high end products, many from Europe, and if you are growing rare trops, they might be worth a try.

I keep a lot of stuff in pots, for several reasons. Number one I have many ultra thousand that get cranky when the temp gets much below 50 , so need to be able to move things. I also have a ton of plans and like to move them around so I can enjoy ones at different times. Finally, I can more easily control media the roots are exposed to. I make my own media with different ingredients that will best suit the plant. I don't get transplant shock because of different stuff in my media, disturb the roots as little as possible, and use different 'shock preventatives'in the water I use after transplanting. Lots of pots might not be the best look, but I have a lot of very rare stuff and a ton of money invested so want as little risk as possible.

Dp