I thought my plants were pretty much done for the year and I came down today and found this! What a nice surprise in November. It is a young Ipomea platense and this is it's first blooms. There are a bunch more buds. This is part of the morning glory family so the flowers will last for one day.
OOOOH Sally,
I have always admired these :) Congratulations on your "bloom of the day". So dainty and cute!
Kim
Beautiful!! How nice to have that this time of the year.
SallyD, questions for you about caudiciform Ipomoeas, this is my first year having them, do they die back all the way to their caudex?
My I. platense leaves had all fallen off, now only the stems left, should I cut the stem off all the way down or leave them intact?
I also have I. bolusiana, that one died down last month, stems and leaves were yellowing, so I cut them off the caudex.
They are suppose to be deciduous, aren't they? On both plants, the caudexes are firm, I just checked.
Thanks in advance!
It depends on what you do with them in the winter. I keep mine warm and under lights and I give them water. Most are resting so they don't get that much water or fertilizer. I don't like to lose the roots because it is much harder for them to start up and many times that can also kill them. My Ipomoea holubii is losing it's leaves so I will cut the stem back to the caudex. It will rest for awhile and will probably start again pretty soon. Few of them rest for the whole winter. You can see the I. platense is still going so I will just follow it's lead. When the leaves go I will cut it back to the caudex. Yes, they are deciduous but like I said, under my conditions most will not take very long rests. Keeping them cool and withdrawing all water is another option. Keeping them cool with water is never an option. Guarenteed rot.
I always go by the caudex being firm but occasionally I will have a caudex that will get soft, I will check the roots and not see any rot. It will scare me to death. I will just leave it alone and it will eventually come back on it's own. Don't throw it out. I don't know if that is part of the dormancy on some of them. It has happened on some of my adeniums and my Fockia edulis did it to me this year.
You answered my questions and explain things perfectly. Thank you!!!
What a wonderful surprise to find, Sally! The flower is soooooo purrrrty!!!
:) Donna
Sooo Purdy!!
Congrats Sally!! 8D
I remember that plant.
I do love it, very nice caudicaform.
