Hi,
Thought I would share this in case anyone ever finds themselves in this position.
I had seedpods on my Corkscrew vine & out of the blue, our CA weather switched places with some eastern state. LOL We had freezing night temps, in the 20's for days on end, I think it was 2 weeks straight but DH thinks we had some nights in there that we were in the 30's. Whoopty doo.
Anyway, back on track, my seedpods did not ripen before this hit & I was afraid they were goners. I picked the green pods & brought them into the house to dry. I just laid them on a paper towel & left them alone and it took a long time, but they finally turned brown. A couple of them were still not brown but were dried up. So I popped open the pods & took out any seed that was not mildewy or shriveled beyond recognition, and threw the rest away. I had 2 friends I had promised seeds to so I wanted to do a germination test before sharing, but had already told them they were probably no good.
On January 1st I nicked & soaked 8 of them overnight in the hottest tap water I could get, then planted them in moist seed starter mix and set them on my computer monitor where it stays 69 degrees.
On January 5th I had 2 sprout, then each day I have had more and am today up to 6 seedlings. What a shocker. So don't give up on seeds that are picked green! There is still hope.
Hope SOMEONE finds this useful. ;~)
Donna
Vigna Caracalla seedpods picked green info
Congratulations.
Hopefully next year my Vigna will give me seeds. The Phaselous blooms constantly and is full of blooms now but even with the tiny ants if needs for pollination, I didn't get any seed pods this year.
Thanks goodness it's easy to root.
Jan...
This was the first year that mine formed pods, but of course, it had to come down long before they matured. I mean, they barely had a pea in them. I wish there was a way to do it without having to bring the whole vine into the house. I'm glad you had such good luck. I think I'm going to order some seeds and if not, I'll order a plant. Just not decided yet. I gave mine away. Have you tried rooting cuttings? I never was successful at doing that. I feel good that I got a couple Thunbergia Ugandense seeds to germinate this year so now I'm going to try some more.
I did not get seeds the first year Jan, is this your first year? I got alot more off the phaseolus then I did the vigna though & they are the same age.
Brugie, I have not had any luck with cuttings, the only way I have found that works for me is pinning a node down and waiting for roots. They really did not take all that long either. I am not familiar with the T. Ugandense, which one is that? I really like the Thunbergias, they are so pretty!
Ugandense is the Butterfly plant. Blue and white blooms that resemble butterflies. Very good bloomer and would be a good one for you because I'm pretty sure it would come back for you from the roots. I've pinned a few of the corkscrew vines in the house and set out some a few years ago. Sure was slow going though. Thanks for your info.
Oh, is it Clerodendrum Ugandense? Yes, that is a lovely one! I do grow it, and it does well here. But it can get huge. I am constantly whacking it back. I think I chose a poor spot for it. I will have to watch for seeds this year & give them a try.
Donna
Hi Donna,
This is the first year for vigna. I've had the phaselous over 1 year but it is a 4-5 yr old plant. It blooms profusely but just hasn't produced pods yet. Hopefully, next year.
Your welcome Joseph. If you don't have this plant, you need it. :~)
BudgieLover,
do you have plenty of ants in your area? That is the only thing that will pollinate them.
You can buy Vigna caracalla tubers from Monticello for 12.00 each. I believe the reason they don't sell seeds is they rarely ripen before the frost comes in that zone.
http://store.yahoo.com/monticellostore/670414.html
I read that to get them to bloom early prune the growing tips when it gets the enough size on it. Full sun, all day if possible .The tubers rot very easily so good drainage and keep it on the dry side. You are supposed to be able to overwinter the tubers but the last two years I tried it they rotted.
This message was edited Jan 17, 2005 12:30 PM
Donna,
I am attempting to start about 5 seeds of this species. I am starting them as I do a morning glory or other hard-coated seed (nick seed, soak in water for 24 hrs., hold in moist paper toweling in ziplock baggie, pray a lot LOL). I may just end up buying the plant if these don't germinate. However, your message gives me hope.
Stay tuned!
Joseph
The nick & soak 24 hrs in hot tap water is great, but then planting them directly into starter mix is what I did with near perfect results. Mine germinated in 5 days with bottom heat of 69 degrees.
Great Job Donna!!!!
I was finally able to get online for a sneak peek at Daves LOL, man I miss this forum!!!
All is well here ~ Laurrie
Hey Laurrie,
Hows the flood waters? I saw news pics of some of the devastation. How terrible!
Did you lose any of your brugs?
Jan...
Wonderful! I am very happy for you Joseph. Don't give up on the other seeds, sometimes they take a bit longer.
it's great to see how their vine/seeds going.... I have two.. one in the pot under the patio. It have leaves and the vines. They didn't die in winter. I put them behind all the boston fern during winter time and cover with heavy blankets. Now It's sitting out in the sun.. I need to repot it into big pot. Also other one is dead but hope it wil come back soon.. since the root is not rotten. Wait and see.. I have few seeds that hope it will come up soon.
I have lots of plants in pots that I never labeled because I knew what they were.
Well, I thought I did. I wasn't watching really carefully for awhile and somethings went dormant and died back below ground and I didn't think anything of it at the time. Well, last week, I was looking for some large pots to transplant new plants in and when I want to empty what I thought must have been plants that died, I found large tubers. It then occurred to me that they must be my curcumas. I need to get in the habit of putting my dormant plants in one area instead of leaving them mixed in with the other potted plants.
You have to realize I have about 300 potted plants waiting to go in the ground in the spring when I have had time to finish a garden design and finish painting the outside fence and putting up the 6ft chain link fence.
Mini,
It will probably come back, we are in the same zone & mine did last year.
Of course, for the crazy weather we have been having, with all the freezes, mine might not return THIS year. Guess we won't know for a few more months.
I am so darn antsy for Spring! I just want to be able to feel my fingers & toes again. And see the sun, and play in the dirt, and plant seeds, and sit in my swing and think about how pretty the flowers are & how hot it is...
Hmmm, I think I need to find a winter hobby. LOL
I can see this is a pretty tight knit group here on the vine forum. Sure would be nice to have other people who like vines to chat with about growing them. Got my tubers ordered from Monticello. I am pretty antsy for spring too. Planted 2 year old Vigna seed Monday and most of them germinated within three days. The pods were picked green also.
Do you think Vigna seed will grow to blooming size the first year?
Shadow,
2 year old seed, that is good to know. Seems like it is all trial and error with some of these that are not common. What method did you use on them, the nick/soak & did you use bottom heat?
I too wish more people were into vines. Seems like there is not much posting on the vine forum during the winter aside from passies, which I don't grow anymore. But it gets hopping pretty good once Spring comes & we all have babies to proudly show off. LOL
What other vines do you grow? I am getting a serious addiction to Clematis.
Brugie,
I grew my first one from seed and got blooms the first year. I did start them inside about February though, so they had a jump start.
Thanks. Guess I better get to work here.
LOL
PM-I just nicked them with a pair of fingernail clippers, planted them in a divided tray, and put the tray in a gallon baggie. I have a bathroom that gets hot as Hades and all newly planted seeds hang out there. I love vines and have grown vigna, blue clitoria, MG, and moonflowers for a while. This year I have quite a few differnt JMG's to grow. I have several new clematis, a coral honeysuckle, and a senecio confusous if it comes back. I would be happy to share seedlings in a month or so. That is half the fun. lol
Wow, sounds like you're going to have a jungle in your bathroom. LOL I wish I had a room that stayed warm enough, but we don't use our heater so the only place I have that works is on top of my monitor. Needless to say I can only put 1 little 6 pack starting tray on there at a time. :~( I have to plant in shifts. LOL
I did the moniter thing at my last house and could fit a tray with twelve cells. So many seeds and so little space, and time, and energy, and money. HAHAHA When my girl lived at home we had one little bathroom. For the last six years she was here seemed it was her personal space. Last year she went away to college and we moved into a three bathroom house. Go figure, now we are bathroom rich. lol Two of them are loaded with plants overwintering.
Bathroom rich, LOL, good one.