Datura Talk........

I thought I would open a thread for Chatting on the Datura Forum.

My first thought is a person either loves or hates Daturas there doesn't seem to be an inbetween. There are some varieties that can become a problem with reseeding, but the Metel are not included and they are the most colorful. The others just need to be controled like many other garden plants. Since they spread by seeds that don't fall far from the plant they are easy to contain. A sleeve made from ladies hose will contain seeds for those who want to collect them. Snipping the blooms when they die will prevent the pods from forming.

They can be wintered over in pots in a greenhouse or other sheltered environments and there is at least one that will survive being in the ground in zone 6 and maybe colder zones, Datura Innoxia (per an identification from DG member). It will come back from the roots each year.

Many have a very pleasing scent but not loud so you have to have several to perfume your yard.

Most people growing Daturas do use fertilizer especially if they are grown in a pot.

Those are some of my thoughts, but my experience is very limited, so let the conversations begin.

I just bought my first Datura at a flea market 2 weekends ago and didn't know what it was. It just had gorgeous blooms. At the time, thats all I needed to know. I did ask the guy what it was, but was told it was an 'Angel Trumpet'. Thanks to DG, I now know what I have.

Mine doesn't seem to have a scent at all.

So in order to have seed pods, I just leave the spent bloom on the plant?

Dee

Yes, just leave the bloom on the plant. When they are ripe the pod will pop open and seeds will beging to spill out. There is no warning. Mine didn't turn brown or anything, just pop. So eithr watch them REAL close or put a piece of ladies hosery over the pot and secure it so that you will be able to catch all the seeds. I did this last year and I thought it was fun.

Judy

Hi Judy! I just realized I never got back to you with an address for those seeds, and I apologize if I caused any inconvenience!

I just adore datura's! I have the classic white datura metel, but at one point I didn't think the seedlings were going to come up. They can take the longest time! I had 4 potted seeds, and a month later they still hadn't come up! This time, I soaked my seeds in Superthrive/hydrogen peroxide for a day and did the moist paper towel (wet with the same combination in water) in a ziploc trick, and most all took off in a week!

I have one I just "let go" and allowed to begin blooming when it wanted to, and this plant is now about 4' wide but less than 2' tall. It's this wide, flat thing that I'm going to prune and attempt to shape. It's hard to do though, when the plant has 30 buds on it. It's certainly a prolific bloomer! I have datura on which I've pinched the buds off in an infantile state, and they are a *lot* bushier than the original experiment. I don't know why pinching and pruning can be so difficult to do, when it comes down to it we're not hurting the plants but helping them.

Whites are a lot more tolerant of full sun here in Florida than any of the colored datura. I have a Cornocopeia from Logee's that positively wilts within 15 minutes if it gets any direct sun. The other purples and one yellow I have behave the same way. I have them shaded and they do fine. My 3 pots of white are in full blazing sun all day and are thriving like crazy.

I'm addicted. I'm searching for the pink seeds, and can't find them anywhere. A pink datura would be like a dream for me, but I'm not happy unless I'm searching for a plant that's difficult to impossible to find. My last acquisition was a jade vine, and I had to look the longest time for that...

Well I have a feeling it's gonna take you longer to find the pink Datura. BUT if you want to start drooling .... look at this thread http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/514019/.

Judy

My goodness! That is absolutely beautiful!!! I'm going to have to go sniff some datura blooms until I recover from the plant envy. I want some!

I wonder where Gaither got the seeds that are suppose to be pink?

Judy

I have a question.

Judy in an earlier post you said 'Yes, just leave the bloom on the plant. When they are ripe the pod will pop open and seeds will beging to spill out.'

Well, what happens if the bloom is knocked off during rain? There is a very small dark 'something' there. Is that the beginning of the pod?

I am sorry for all these questions. I really want to do this right.

Thanks for all yours and everybody elses help.

Dee

If it is a little round nub, yes it is the seed pod forming.

Judy

Will it continue to grow even though the bloom has fallen off?

Dee

I'm reserving judgment until I actually HAVE one - LOL! Yes, they are beautiful! I now have about 10-12 little seedlings - double/triple yellows and purples - the purples seemiingly grow faster, as that row of babies is about twice the size of the yellows. I'm very optimistic, but after all of my brug disasters, I'm afraid to get tooooooo excited. Will take a photo when I get home this evening and you can give me diagnosis, doctor!

I did finally pot up the brugs and they look great, so I hang on to your every word!

Dee,
Yep!! It must have been about ready to fall off or the rain would not have knocked it off. We've had fierce rains the last 24 hours and the only blooms that came off were those which were were already "spent".

Sequee,
I would love to see pictures!!!

Judy

I'm bringing home a clean disk tonight, so watchout what you wish for - LOL!

Open up a new thread and post all your pictures there. lol lol Show us your Daturas!!! Then you can update it as they grow!!

This message was edited Jun 2, 2005 10:49 AM

i have planted seeds nothing ever, i have 2 tiny seedlings now but doing nothing? what is wrong 2nd yr. trying..thanks

Hi Judy-
thanks for the tip re yard geek fertilizer for the brugs. I noticed a difference imeadiantly. the leaves became very thick and dark green. I had to cut some of them because they became so heavy, especialy after a storm.
do you ever use the same (yard geek fertilzer) on the Daturas? I will probably experiment, but I realized this year I had been using miracle grow on the same cycle as the brugs and in fact had been over doing it for the Daturas. This year Daturas are better, but I may be under doing it now. It is so hot here that the tripples stop blooming after June and start again in Oct or so. The white ones like Liila says seem to do well in the sun.
Hope43, what is the location of your seedlings? Are they in good sun? Not too damp? I find some times the Daturas have their own agenda about when to sprout. Try keeping the seedlings at a constant temperature. Do you have the seeds in seed pots or something else? My best luck is starting them out in small pots or seed pots. I have so many of them now I'm about to line the alley with them!
Good luck.
Rj