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Tue, Dec 29, 09 at 9:34
| Hi
Does anyone know of a source for Portulaca "Toucan Hot Mix" seed? I've tried the usual seed sites to no avail. Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Tue, Dec 29, 09 at 13:13
| link below.. nice puzzle trying to find it ... never heard of this seller ... if wholesale .... call them and ask for retailer ... had better luck under purslane.. rather than portulaca ... google purslane 'Toucan Hot Mix' rather than the portulace prefix ... ken |
Here is a link that might be useful: link
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| This series is bred by Pan American Seed (as ken's link indicates). Pan American is a BREEDER that sells wholesale to seed distributors (like Park, Burpee, etc.) I can tell you that you WON'T find any Toucan seed as Pan American has pulled it from the market intime Spring of 2010. They are unable to produce seed at this time. |
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| NorthBeach, Hazard's has Portulaca Toucan Fuchsia 100 seeds for $13.15 (ouch!). Portulaca oleracea is a noxious weed. Although it is sometimes sold as a vegetable, some people advise that it should be avoided as potentially invasive. Considering how expensive the Toucan seed is, that probably doesn't apply to it. The ornamental Toucan Purslane are apparently being marketed only to commercial growers of plants for resale. ZM |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Wed, Dec 30, 09 at 13:21
| at the previous link ... there is a drop down for product availability ... and then dropped varieties .... i dont see purslane listed.. but i am sure goblugal is right ... [whats the deal with MI hockey this season???] regardless.. further on the same drop down is seed and plug distributors ... i will leave it to you to search those listed ... link below ken |
Here is a link that might be useful: link
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- Posted by tugbrethil Sunset 13, z 9 (My Page) on Wed, Dec 30, 09 at 18:42
| Technically, the purslanes grown for flowers are supposed to be a different species--Portulaca umbraticola. A nurseryman friend of mine complained last year that the Ag Dept. here came in and confiscated his whole stock of Wildfire purlanes, just because the tags said "Purslane"! I occasionally get volunteers, but they have never been very invasive for me. What gives?! Kevin : / |
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| I have Toucan purslane in my commercial catalogues, but that doesn't mean it will necessarily be available. I've had that catalogue since last July and things like crop failures happen. My sourcing says it's the first oleracea available by seed, but I know I grew some from another vendor and seed source about five years ago. And I was very disappointed with it compared to the cutting-grown varieties. So, I'm assuming Toucan is going to be comparable to the cutting-grown. My broker didn't even have a picture in their catalogue. I suspect goblugal is right about it. I always go with the Yubi line and didn't even consider ordering a seed grown this year. So, I didn't enquire, nor, did my broker recommend it, and they usually do when they suspect something new is going to be a hot seller. |
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| Trust me, I'm right on this one. As a commercial plug producer that works closely with breeders and distributors, I know what's going on with this crop. It's too bad - it is VERY comparable to vegetatively produced varieties, I have seen it in trials in CA, MI and PA, and it is outstanding....but Pan Am is struggling with the seed production. They produced small amounts last season, SOME of which may still be available through retail sources, but new crop is a bust. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Jan 4, 10 at 12:52
| well with that CV.. who doesnt believe you ... lol ken |
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- Posted by northbeach (My Page) on Sun, Jan 10, 10 at 21:14
| Thank you all for your responses. I guess I'll have to watch the local nurseries for plants. |
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| If we can't get seed from commercial sources, then you won't find them in the nurseries, either. |
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| Talked to a rep from PanAm at MANTS last week - they actually have TONS of seed....but it is dormant and they can't get it to break! They can't sell it to distributors until then, so right now it's a waiting game. |
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| Have they tried gibberellic acid (GA3) to break the dormancy, or have they said what they have tried? |
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- Posted by tugbrethil Sunset 13, USDA 9 (My Page) on Mon, Jan 11, 10 at 21:55
| Considering the purported origin of the parent species, maybe it needs a hot, dry environment before moistening it, and/or large volumes of water in the first wetting. That would imitate the conditions of early summer in parts of India, followed by the monsoon rains. Kevin : ) |
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| Uh...I'm sure PanAm knows what they are doing Zenman. They are highly motivated to get this seed available to sell. Dormancy in all portulaca seed is pretty common. Usually it breaks on it's own. |
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- Posted by slackermom (My Page) on Tue, Jan 12, 10 at 23:18
| I can't help you with finding seeds, but it was available last season through Jung and HP. I grew it last year and was disappointed that I couldn't find it again. I agree that it was very comparable to cutting grown portulaca. It germinated well for me and each pellet produced several plants. I hope to grow it again when seeds are available. |
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| Just got Toucan Mix from Geoseed. It is now pretty cheap. It is priced comparable to good portulaca. I read on the PanAm site that Portulaca (Happy Trails) is very sensitive to salts (ammonium) during germination ... wonder if this applies to Purslane. The following is a quote about Happy Trails: "Portulaca is very sensitive to high salts, particularly high ammonium, during germination." I'll find out...Sorry for rambling. They are also sensitive to ants :-). Once I planted portulaca seeds and watched them daily to see if they were germinating. I finally noticed that the ants were hauling them off and were piling them by the entrance to their hole. This year to offset that threat I bought Happy Trails and Toucan in pellet form and a bare seed - 5000 seed double mix. The theory being thet may not like pellets and they can eat 4990 of the other seeds and I might still get plants. :-) Bob |
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| I have just ordered mine from Harris Seeds. |
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| Dorne, Would love to hear how they turn out. The info I read says that 4 seeds per cell is recommended. Not sure why. Perhaps that is for commerical growers who want a fuller look at retail. I have used Harris before. With Geoseed 100 seeds of Toucan can be ordered, if someone only wants 100 seeds versus 250 seeds(from Harris). Bob |
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