Alstroemeria Question

I was wondering if you could propagate alstroemeria from a leaf cutting? I would love to have the 'Julietta Zaprijul' but since I can't seem to find it online and if it can be propagated by leaf cutting I would be happy to trade someone for a couple of leaves.

Kit, as far as I know, you can only reproduce Alstroemerias either from seeds or dividing the tuber.

Do you have a link to this specific Alstroemeria?

Ursula

I did read the same information in the PDB but I am willing to try anything lol, here is the link http://davesgarden.com/pdb/showimage/17572/
It's getting hard to find a variety of these beautiful plant here.

Looks like a hybrid obtained from our Chilean endemic Alstroemeria pelegrina:

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/461490/

The flowers of my plant age a little more purplish.

I'm surre commercial growers can reproduce this plant from tissue, but they probably need a whole laboratory to do it.

The wife of a boss I had a long time ago is involved in a programme at the Universidad Austral (a Univeristy) to reproduce orchids from tissue, but it is a very expensive project.

Is that the only one you have? I would like to collect them all but finding them is the problem.

I have two pots with yellow Alstroemeria aurea that bloomed last year for the first time (3 years after sowing!).

I bought the Alstroemeria pelegrina a few weeks ago as an adult plant.

I also have a pot with a hybrid Alstroemeria (colour is similar to watermellon) that I received as a present some years ago.

From last summer's seed collecting, I have 3 volunteeres in a pot (probably Alstroemeria ligtu ssp simsii, or from the low-growing species of the Andes Mountains). They don't look like they will bloom this year. These were 'discarded seeds' I just threw in a pot with Blue Bells - LOL.

Regarding the mix of low-growing-Andes-species, I had a report from England that they bloomed the first year from sowing!

Are you patient enough to grow them from seeds? I have A. ligtu ssp. simsii and Low-growing-A. mix from the andes Mountains seeds. You should expect them to bloom in 3 years (at least the A. ligtu).

I have the Zsa Zsa but as you can see it's still blooming.
Is there anything special that you have to do to the seeds before planting?

Windsurfer & Ursula. . hello. .excuse my jumping in. . .The American Hort Society 'Plant Propagation' concurs with Ursula. . .the white starchy tubers are extremely delicate and are increased either by 'careful!' division or by seed, which should be sown fresh because it is hard to break the dormancy on them once dried and stored. It gives some good instructions for sowing the seed, but doesn't mention leaf cutting propagation as a method. . . ;-D Janet

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. I am going to try it with the leaves I have just to see if it will work, at this point I am willing to try anything lol.

Kit, please keep us posted on the results.

jcangemi, your are very welcome to post in ANY thread here at DG. Your experience/knowledge will always help somebody. Forums are open - not private conversations. Thanks for adding data!

I will, I have started a lot of plants that people didn't think would work that way and some turned out ok some didn't, it worth a try.

jcangemi I forgot my manners, welcome to DG and to any forum you want to post on. I have the flu so just over look my rudeness.

Windsurfer, regarding your inquiry about starting from seed, I read some years ago to chill them in the refrigerator for one month, followed by bottom heat another month. I tried that method and it worked for me.

Good luck!

Thanks.

Thanks for the welcome everyone. . .we have alot of these growing in the experimental garden where I volunteer. . .so I'm also interested in the outcome as we do alot of propagating and leaf-cutting is a new-found interest this year for me. I'll keep watching this tread. Janet ;-D

I'll do my best, wish me luck. I have a tendency to do a lot of things that goes against the grain of the planting world just to see if it will work, so not sure how this will turn out.

This message was edited Nov 9, 2004 12:22 AM

I found a website that has alstros very reasonably...here is the website: http://www.buy-alstroemeria.com. Good Luck!!

I am known for trying anything. My cuttings worked fine. Wonder why it isn't recommended?

WOW. Please give us all the details, ladyanne!

Ursual, I had to trim mine back, and thought, before the cuttings hit the garbage ca, why not? Just popped them in some soil with root tone and it bloomed during the summer. Nothing to it. BUT, I can't say that about all my cutting attempts!

Thanks!

Do you think it would work with the stems that have currently flowers on them? I usually pull them out - that's the way lots of people recommend to do in order to encourage new flowers.

How long were the pieces you used and what percentage of them do you bury. Also, do you remove all leaves?

Tia

Don't do that while they are flowering! Let me rephrase. The plant is putting 99.9% of it's energy into flowering. To trim flowers for a rebloom is oft times not done, nor thought of. I have discovered many of mine do. After the plant stops flowering naturally, despite my clipping for rebloom, and it's approaching winter, most plants go into a rest period. Soo....I like to take plants the MINUTE the flower is looking dim and pop the branch into soil. It works here, so I must be doing something right. I leave only a few top leaves on it, especially healthy ones so the plant has the energy to develop roots. If you pick flowering stems, be sure to cut off the flower. Hope this helps. Oh, and I trim the leaves off carefully and coo at plants.

By no means I would sacrify the flowers LOL. I should have said use the stems once the flowers have finished blooming.

I'm asking this, because my only hybrid Alstroemeria is currently blooming and has no 'vane' stems (we call a stem 'vane stem' if it does not produce flowers). Unfortunately, I already discarded (to the compost bin) the few 'vane stems' my recently acquired A. pelegrina produced.

Please tell me how long each of your cuttings is and what percentage of the cutting you bury.

Thanks again.

Sorry, missed that before. I usually do cuttings from six inches on up to three feet, and this particular situation, I only had one cutting and left it at three feet long. Usually I try and double what I want to have, and am immensely happy with anything over fifty percent. I average between 50 and 100 percent, depending on the plant.

Thanks for sharing, ladyanne! I will have to try it, since growing Alstroemerias from seed took 3 years for them to flower.

Ursula

Wishing you the best of luck!!