Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 19:26:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Barry Meyers-Rice <bamrice@ucdavis.edu> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2918$foo@default> Subject: Ibicella lutea seed
>I just received a packet of Devil's Claw (Ibicella lutea) seeds from the
>ICPS seed bank. I read in The Savage Garden several ways to get the
>seeds to germinate. Does anyone have any experiences to share, as far
>as successful methods? Also, how long did germination take? The Savage
>Garden says up to a year.
>Also, what time of year is best to sow the seeds? I can't find any info
>on this in the book.
Hey Joe,
It is quite possible that those seeds were donated by me.
The following is text I wrote for an article that appeared in CPN 28:2
(1997):
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Seed should be sown 1 cm deep in a rich, sandy soil. High soil
temperatures trigger germination, so keep your pots in a sunny
spot. Immediately upon germination transplant the seedlings into the pots
that will house the plants through maturity. The larger the pot, the
larger your plant will be. I use pails at least 40 cm (15 inches) tall
(Figure 1). Give the plants full sun and water daily but do not keep the
soil sopping wet! Fertilizers are not required, but probably would
encourage vigorous growth. I grow this plant outdoors and it is usually
beset by white flies and caterpillars. The white flies do not cause too
much damage and the caterpillars can be removed manually.
I have noticed Ibicella has two flowering phases during its long growing
season. The first phase occurs when the plants are just a few months
old. (This is a good time to make sure you have Ibicella and not some
related plant--see my notes on identification, below.) The fruit from this
first phase of flowering mature in only a month or so. After these first
few flowers, the plant stops flowering and concentrates upon growing
larger. The second phase of flowering starts when the first crop of seeds
are nearly mature. In my cultivation this phase continues until the plants
are killed by frost--I am not sure what happens where it is native in
South America. These fruit take up to three months to mature and may be
larger than the earlier fruit (16 cm or longer). Pollinate flowers from
the first phase (cross-pollination yields the most seed) because you may
not have the long growing season required to get seed from later
flowers. Incidentally, Ibicella has sensitive stigmatic lobes that quickly
flex out of the way when touched and enclose the applied pollen. This is
obviously an adaptation to avoid self-pollination by pollen-coated insects
backing out of the flower.
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------------------------
Dr. Barry A. Meyers-Rice
Carnivorous Plant Newsletter
Conservation Coeditor
barry@carnivorousplants.org
http://www.carnivorousplants.org
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