A. Tuberosa et al

I drove to a native plant "store" today to procure some A. Tuberosa. What she had was A. Currasavica, which I have tons of. If I can root my Calotropis Gigantea, is there anyone with A. Tuberosa (all orange, not orange and yellow flowers) who would trade live plants? I can buy seeds cheap but I will be old and grey by the time they germinate!

Warm regards,

Maggie

Hmmm... I just received some seeds from a swap. Do the A. Tuberosa take THAT long to grow? I hope not.

Oh! Wait.... at Wal-Mart today I saw them selling it like they do their plant bulbs. It was tubers or something in a plastic bag. I looked at that and was very surprised! Never seen that particular plant for sell packaged like that before. You might try Wally World, Maggie. They just got all this plant stuff in. I think it was somewhere between $4-6 for this plant. Not sure how many were in the bag. Just a thought.

Maggie, I started a bunch of A. tuberosa from seed last summer. I just threw it in the garden and it seemed to germinate overnight. It does take some time to flower though, maybe a few months.

I'm so sorry- I have no patience! Asclepias Anything doesn't do well from seeds for me. Wally world sounds good. If that doesn't work, I'll be back

Maggie

Maggie - If they don't have them at your Wal-Mart, let me know. I can pick a bag up for you here. With postage added to mail to you .... it might be more than you want to spend for this plant?

No, MUST HAVE A. Tuberosa! I'm being unreasonable. I know that. I drove to the other end of town yeasterday because the Native Plant person said she had some. It was A. currasavica which she said was AT because it was orange (instead of yellow), but it was the orange with yellow centers of AC. Oh well, she did have a white one anmd some other plants I was looking for so it was fine.

Becky, I have a wallyworld not far away, I'll check today. thanks for the offer, I may take you up on it. I didn't know they had it locally, i didn't even look there. It hadn't occurred to me that they would have bare root divisions.

I would like to have some of lots of different kinds of milkweed. I do have a Calotropis Gigantea now that JaxFlagardener is rooting. I'd love to find a Calotropis Procera but all I ever find is the ground seeds for medicinal purposes.

Maggie

If you get some at WM, open the box and look inside first! I bought some Sea Hollies once like that and found that they are little seedlings and a couple were dead. I'd never bought them like that before so it didn't occur to me to check. duh.. They are in a plastic bag so just open it and make sure your plant is green. I think I'll go grab me a couple of these today too. And maybe some more Sea Hollies.

You ARE being rather demanding about what you are wanting Maggie! LOL! That's part of the fun of gardening. I MUST have the plant and I must have it NOW! I've spent plenty of money on gas on my searches for my latest desire. The hunt is so exciting!

I can proudly say tho that I have been learning patience tho. I might not have tho if the budget hadn't ran low. lol

Maggie I have not been able to keep Tuberosa alive. It does well until the humidity kicks in, then it dies

Oh no, that doesn't sound good for me either. I'll probably still try it but that's good to know so I won't be wondering what I did.

Ok, wait a minute. Sugarweed says this is a TX native. How can it not succeed if She says it;-) ???

Becky- I got my AT!!!!! Thank you so much!!

Maggie

I never could keep them alive and I read somewhere they don't like humidity

We have lots of humidity here and mine do fine, maybe something else killed them?

Oh awesome, Maggie! Glad to hear that your Wally World had them too! Good luck growing them! I may go back to my local WM and buy one of those bags, too. I don't have that butterfly weed in my yard. Though, I may just try growing them from seeds. I've had very good luck with seeds in my zone. I actually take pride in growing things from seed. I think I am still amazed that I can actually get a plant that way! LOL!

I'm such a nerdy Newbie to gardening. LOL

oh me too Becky. I grew a Psiguria umbrosa from seed last year. I have 1 seed sprouted from the Psiguria triphylla now I started a couple of weeks ago

Donna - I have LOTS of plants sprouted from seeds right now. My problem now is hardening them to be in the yard. I tried that last year and most of those tender little seedlings fried in the hot Florida sun. They don't call Florida the Sunshine state for nothing! So I've got all these great plants growing .... now what!!!????? Ackkkkk!

Becky,

After all that, I bought some A. teberosa seeds on a lark. Don't know if all my previous seeds were old or if the H2O2 and baggie method is just the only way to go but I now have seeds putting forth teeny roots. So I will have a bunch this year!

Maggie

Oh! How awesome, Maggie! Way to go, girl! I would have to think that the seeds were not viable from before. Some seeds have a short shelf life. (I just don't know which ones, yet. lol)

I went to WM and carried a little box around then decided to just buy a package of seeds since I have good luck with milkweeds. I'm doing the baggie method first. It's the first thing I do now because it's always so reliable and I'm not staring at dirt several times a day to see if anything is happening! lol

Okay ..... some one explain to me the bag method of starting seeds. please. Again I am cluelesss!

You need some baggies and coffee filters, or paper towels. I use coffee filters cut in half, wet them and wring them out then put your seeds on one layer and fold the other layer over on top of the seeds. Put the filter into the baggie and shut it 3/4 of the way and put it in an area with a lot of light. I tape mine to the bathroom window.

It depends on the seed germination time but soon you will see them sprouting! You can see which seeds are good and aren't this way. Transplant your seeds into whatever medium you want to use to grow them and voila!

You need to keep them misted inside the baggie but not too wet to mold. Being in the sun they can dry out if they are there for a few days. If they dry out too quick then shut the baggie and open it daily to get some air in it. You have to keep an eye on them but it's not much trouble.

Don't forget to label your baggies!

Thanks, Paige. That's very interesting. I'll have to try it. I am soooo green around the ears when it comes to all of this. I just thought there was one way and one way only to grow stuff. ....in dirt. I am still planning to try a lasagna seed bed. But I will definitely try the baggie method of sowing seeds! :-)

Don't forget the H2O2, BigRed on th eProp forum started old heirloom seeds he thought were goners.

Maggie

Using hydrogen peroxide? (It sure has a lot of uses in gardening) Do you use it with the baggie method? Please elaborate! :) (I greatly appreciate Cliff Notes on things since I can rarely get out of this forum)

Here's the link, it actually came from notmartha on the cottage Gardening Forum (and he credits her). Propagation is really a good site to cruise. not quite as active as we are but lots of pearls.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/423028/


Maggie

It's about the Oxygen and Antiseptics...

Cliff Notes,
To soak seeds with H2O2:
ALWAYS use 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide in a dilute solution. NEVER use it as a concentrate without diluting it first.
To make a 3% solution: Mix 1 ounce of 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide with 11 ounces of water. Distilled water is best when possible, especially if the solution is to be stored for any length of time.
Storage: Keep out of flourescent light. Store in a cool dark place.

Here comes the newbie with questions .....

I take it that H2O2 is the recipe above? What exactly is H2O2? Is it a fungus killer to be used on newly sprouted seeds? Or does it prevent bacteria from growing and spreading? This is ALL new to me. I have just been dropping seeds in peat pots and if they grow .... good, if they don't .... oh well. This all very surprising to me. I'm the wide-eyed kid sitting at the back of the classroom! lol

This message was edited Jan 20, 2007 11:09 PM

Maggie and Paige - I couldn't stand it any longer as I walked by the plant bulbs section. I bought one of the A. Tuberosa tonight when I went grocery shopping at WM. I also bought some other bulbs and root balls that I hope will go well in my bog garden.

Becky,

Cool Beans! We'll have lots of A. T! What Deb posted sounds well researched and clear. I didn't have food -grde H2O2 so I used what I had. I just soaked my seeds in a papertowel & wet them with H2O2 and rinsed it the next day. They still came up better this time. After seeing these clear and succinct instructions I think I'll even try following the instructions!

Maggie

Thanks...I'll read thru the link(s). I've not had much trouble getting the seeds I try to germinate, it's getting them to survive afterwards. I have used the hp when watering seedlings but never read to use food grade. Where do I get food grade hp?

I was very proud of myself that I didn't buy that milkweed. I have learned to have some self-control but I can feel the plant-buying-beast in me just ready to pounce on the first truck I see unloading at Lowe's! (woohooo!!!)

I hear ya, Paige. Sometimes I can walk right on by and other times I go back and check them out. And then a week or two later I will buy them. I usually stew over any plants for a week or two to determine if it is really something that I want in my yard. With the bog garden and the other gardens looking kind of empty, I will be picking up plants now through summer. And some I will grow from seeds. I, too, find it difficult to get them to continue to grow in the yard after germinating them. I have a hard time hardening them off. The sun in Florida is so hot .... even now. What's a Florida gardener to do? lol With larger starter plants, it seems the odds are better that they will make it. I just need to try growing a seed bed right out there in full sun. I am anxious to do that this year! :-)

Becky,

Can you get some shade cloth and make a lean to harden of your plants? I'm thinking initially you could double the thickness, then single, then full sun. If you need a relatively small amount, perhaps a local nursery could sell/give you some. If you have a fence it would be even easier. The other nice thing with a lean-to is better air circulation.

Maggie