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spiderwort seed
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Posted by
sheryl_ontario ONT z5 (
My Page) on
Wed, Jun 22, 11 at 16:08
| I want to collect some seed form my spiderwort this year. I have tried in the past but have been unable to find the ripening seed pods. Can someone, please, tell me how to go about collecting the seed? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: spiderwort seed
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| look in the spent flower buds as they brown ..??? in suburbia.. in prime soil.. a very manageable plant.. moved to the country ... horrible sand.. never watered.. a billion seedlings.. i have been killing plants for 5 years.. and have never let another bloom.. and i still have seed coming up all over the garden .. whats that all about ... i would be very careful about seeding them all over your yard ... and would be very leery of accepting them in a trade ... whats you plan for these seeds??? ken |
RE: spiderwort seed
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| I am very expert at collecting seed but have not found any in the spent flowers on my spiderwort. I kept checking last year and finally gave up. I want to raise a few more plants. I have an osprey and another. So far they have not reseeded in my garden. Maybe I just keep it too clean, pulling them up before they can develop far enough for me to know what it is. Do new seedlings look like grass? |
RE: spiderwort seed
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| New seedlings look like bluish hairy grass. If you want seed, the small light-green seed capsule, surrounded by three green bracts is mature 2-3 weeks after flowering. A few days prior to splitting, the capsule becomes dry and papery. Collecting seeds is easiest by tying a small bag around the unsplit capsule. I would sow them immediately, the same way mother nature does. They need cold stratification to germinate (over the winter outside). The seeds are very tiny. |
RE: spiderwort seed
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| named varieties.. MIGHT be sterile ... ergo ipso presto.... divide in early fall if you figure out how to kill one.. let me know ... ken |
RE: spiderwort seed
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| Osprey will set seed, I have had it reseed for me. Just keep digging it up, Ken. |
RE: spiderwort seed
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| I will keep checking for seed then. Thanks for the info! |
RE: spiderwort seed
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| Sheryl, do you know which type of Tradescantia "Spiderwort" you are growing? Maybe you could post a picture? As Ken pointed out, there are sterile varieties. |
Here is a link that might be useful: sterile spiderwort
RE: spiderwort seed
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| I have 'Concord Grape' and it does seed but not very prolifically. |
RE: spiderwort seed
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| Good information on how to collect seed- I had always wondered. The only cultivars that have not reseeded for me are 'Bilberry Ice' and 'Sweet Kate'. The rest reseed a LOT. On a side note...I did find the neatest double flowering seedling from one of my plants (can't remember if it is from 'Red Grape' or 'Carmine Glow', they look so similar!). Really neat looking!
CMK |
RE: spiderwort seed
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| I have an 'Osprey' and a purple one that I know reseeds. I still can't find any seed pods, just a lot of empty looking things hanging down under the flowers with no seed pods in them. Some are green and some are brown but they are all empty - no pods ?? |
RE: spiderwort seed
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| Be careful what you wish for. I have never seen a sterile Tradescantia. Even the double ones seed like crazy. I regret bitterly I got them. They are not worth the trouble. |
RE: spiderwort seed
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| I ordered, paid for & took delivery of 'Osprey' 4+ years ago. It grew, bloomed, thrived...and every year around the middle of August the foliage keeled over, turned orange and looked dead. The first time, I thought it was dead but it came up again the following year. Fast forward to mid-August of this year: I dug the nasty, ugly pile of decayed foliage + roots up and trashed it all. I couldn't think of a place anywhere in my garden where I could transplant it, enjoy it and not have to look at the mess every year. Number of reseeds? Zero. It was pretty when it was pretty but the ugly after-bloom sealed its fate. The regular purple one grows in a different bed and appears to die back without the ugly mess so I've left it alone. Although I've found a volunteer here and there, they always come up in the same spot so I wouldn't say it's invasive or even too enthusiastic. |
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