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| Can anyone tell me if unripe seed from a Cardinal flower would ripen on the stem if it is broken (no roots) but kept alive in water? Thank-you! |
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| It's worth a try....no harm to try..though if I wanted viable seeds I'd let them mature outside preferably. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian MI z5 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 8, 14 at 7:51
| and it might make a difference if its a species plant.. or some foo foo hybrid.. which might be sterile ... what is the source of the plant [did you have a seed pack?] .... is there a name in quotes after the latin ... indicating a named hybrid???? regardless.. the best way to learn.. and retain anything.. in my experience ... is to experiment ... go for it ... maybe the darn thing will root.. lol .. [depending on where it broke and if its possible] my general default ... on perennials.. is division ... as compared to seed collection ... and that is why... i am speculating.. rather than having a direct answer for you ... as when i broke off flowers.. i enjoyed them in a vase.. until i threw them out .. finally .. some peeps who grow hosta crosses from seed... on late forming crosses ... use sugar water ... and i think that is from the daylily world ... you might want to retitle your post and try other forums ... something like: TRYING TO MATURE SEED PODS ON CUT STALK ken |
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| Thanks Dbarron and Ken. Actually, I found a pile of CFs, Hostas and some other things left by the roadside. Looks as if someone cleared a garden bed and dumped the cuttings (and in some cases, CFs w/roots still attached) at the edge of the road. Not a bad thing...the area is heavily wooded and I guess it is potentially good compost....however, this area is largely overrun w/kudzu and english ivy and little else seems to thrive. So, seeing the cardinal flowers in bloom I picked up a bunch of the cut stems and as much of the stems w/roots as I could find and I have planted the rooted stems at edge of a wooded area and I wanted to know if I could possibly save any of the seeds. I am aware that seeds usually require live rooted plants to achieve maturity but I was wondering if there was any possibility of them ripening if I was able to keep the stems alive, i.e., leave them in a bucket of water. As for the variety, they look similar to the ones I grew from seed (L. cardinalis...bought from prairiemoon) except that the stems are much sturdier and the roots are very thick! Mine are just 1st/2nd yr plants and do not get much sun. |
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| Adidas, in my experience collecting many types of seeds, there does appear to be some maturation that takes place even after cutting seedheads that are not completely ripe. With some stalks or pods (like Asclepias) I collect them when they have started to yellow, but not nearly close to popping open, and although not all the seeds are fully dry and brown at that point, they do seem to finish maturing during the drying process. Not sure about L. cardinalis, but for the stems you put in water, try to include some roots. Or put the plants with roots into pots, and pamper them and keep them well watered. Have you opened a pod to see what stage the seeds are at? I agree it's worth a try to dry some out and see what happens. |
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| Terrene, Thanks so much for your input! The CF seeds are still very greenish/white....no sign of tan or brown, but I'll keep them in the bucket and see what happens. I planted the rooted CFs because the roots looked quite vigorous and this area is like a swamp it's received so much rain this yr so I'm hoping they'll be ok. Interesting about the Asclepias though....did you ever have green seeds ripen in the pods? The one species I've been watching is A. exaltata and its pods seem to go sort of purple as they mature...they don't seem to be ready to open but I wanted to collect a couple before the milkweed beetles get 'em all...just don't know when to collect. |
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| Hi Adidas yes I have collected pods when the seeds were not fully brown and they have browned up during the drying process. But generally it's best not to open the pod while it's drying, so it's hard to tell the condition of the seeds sometimes! As for your A. exaltata, the purple color is probably normal. Some of my A syriaca seedpods are purplish (pretty). The pods that are lowest on the plant should be most mature. If you notice a fading of the green coloration, I would go ahead and collect a few. Then I dry out between several days and 2 weeks and test them daily by squeezing them gently. They will start to pop open when they're ready. As for the milkweed beetles, they will nibble on the pods, so when I'm checking the plants I'm not very nice and squish the beetles! |
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| Thanks Terrene! I shall follow your advice and collect a couple of purplish pods. I found that putting a dab of the bug spray I use on myself (all terrain) on the pods seems to keep the beetles away for a day or 2 :) |
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