WHAT'S LOOKING EXOTIC IN 2017

Discussion in 'Tropical Gardening' started by ARMANDII, Jan 9, 2017.

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  1. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    I find that hoya leaf cutting interesting @PeterS .

    I've, on occasions, rooted both H. carnosa and H. bella leaves, but never managed to get a shoot from either.
    Never realised Calathea had flowers like that.:blue thumb:
     
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    • PeterS

      PeterS Total Gardener

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      I didn't know you could do leaf cuttings of Hoya - but then I don't know much about Hoyas. Whilst it was very cheap, it must be money for old rope - pull off a few leaves and put them in a tiny pot, and sell them for a couple of quid. Mind you I did give it a surreptitious pull to see if it had rooted - I think it had. The compost is dry, but I read that you shouldn't water it till you can see new growth. I suspect most get watered and rot.

      I have your Hoya 'Bella' cuttings on a heat pad and under a light, but I am not that hopeful. I think that its the wrong time of the year - but we will give it a go. There will be plenty of material for cuttings in the spring.
       
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      • pete

        pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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        I think I had one H. carnose leaf in a pot for 4 yrs, it never put up a shoot even thogh it had rooted ;):biggrin:
        Had similar with Columnea.

        No worries on the H.bella cuttings, I can wait.
        But thanks very much for trying.:thumbsup:
         
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        • PeterS

          PeterS Total Gardener

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          I've been had :doh:

          Pete - after your comments I Googled Hoya leaf cuttings and found this :-

          The problem is that, as a gardener, you expect this rooted leaf to grow into plant, right? That, when you bring it home and lovingly care for it, it will one day grow new stems, more leaves and – who knows? – maybe even flowers.

          If so, you’ll be severely disappointed. Because the leaf will probably never produce a new stem or other leaves. In the rare case in which it does, that can take years. It usually can’t, because neither the leaf or its petiole has any dormant bud from which new stems can grow. This is called a blind cutting.

          Your blind leaf can live for years without growing and without changing: a sort of horticultural living dead (not much of a Valentine’s Day symbol, is it?). After 4 or 5 years, if you continue to take care of it (and its needs are fairly minimal: a sprinkling of water every now and again will suffice and of course, no fertilizer is ever needed), it will simply die one day, having lived out its leafy life.

          Very occasionally, a love leaf will, after some 7 to 10 years, put out a stem. That’s because a tiny bit of stem was torn off with the leaf and that did include a small dormant bud. But most hoya leaf cuttings are simply blind.

          Very interesting - I had never heard of blind cuttings.
           
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          • Victoria

            Victoria Lover of Exotic Flora

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            That is probably why my leaf cutting never grew years ago! :doh:Very, very interesting. Thanks for that Peter. I wonder if there are other similar plants. :scratch:
             
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            • PeterS

              PeterS Total Gardener

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              As I said this was new to me. The same site said :-

              Hoyas aren’t the only plants with with leaves that root and never produce a stem. There is a surprising number of plants whose leaves you can coax into rooting, but that will go no further. Several Ficus species, for example, such as the rubber plant (Ficus elastica) and the fiddle-leaf fig (F. lyrata), produce blind leaves. On Facebook forums, I often see thrilled indoor gardeners marveling over the leaf cuttings they took of a rubber plant: “Look,” they crow, “my leaf has roots!” They all look forward to the huge and beautiful rubber plant it will one day become, but they are going to be bitterly disappointed. No plant will ever grow from a rubber plant leaf cutting. A stem cutting, sure, but not a leaf cutting. It too will live on for years, then die for no apparent reason. Such is the way of blind leaves.

              O
              ne thing I have learnt is that every time you find an answer, it often raises a new question. If a Hoya leaf doesn't have any growing points - how did it produce roots?
               
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                Last edited: Nov 26, 2017
              • pete

                pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                Ahh, well my guess is that roots are formed directly from a stem, often from a callous that forms when a stem is cut, and can form from any part of stem or cut tissue.
                Top growth can only form from dormant buds, so no dormant buds, no shoot.

                But then again, you can grow Saintpaulia and other related plants from a rooted leaf stem, likewise some succulents.:scratch:

                Maybe they are plants that grow from a central crown, and the leaf stalk is able to form a small crown from which growth buds can form.

                We need a botanist.:biggrin:
                 
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                • shiney

                  shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                  Mrs Shiney grows Hoyas from cuttings but never from leaf cuttings. She uses softwood stems, normally kept dangling in water until the roots appear or from pinning them down to another pot.

                  She ends up selling them as we have nowhere to keep them, but for her the fun is in just propagating them. The few she keeps she just winds them round and round. Kristen bought one some years ago and said that when he had unravelled it, it was 20ft long :rolleyespink:

                  This isn't ours, just a succulent (no idea what) but I like it. Spotted growing outside whilst walking around Pafos last week.

                  P1360430.JPG

                  And can anyone tell me what this tree is? It was at least 25ft - 30ft high. (Spotted at a distance, on Malta, so a bit blurred).

                  P1360823.JPG

                  P1360821.JPG
                   
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                  • Victoria

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                    • shiney

                      shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                      @Victoria Thanks. :)

                      It looks as though you have the right Kalanchoe :blue thumb: but I'm pretty sure the tree is not the one you show. :noidea:
                       
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                      • PeterS

                        PeterS Total Gardener

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                        Shiney - that's interesting about Hoya rooting in water. I am trying some in water at the moment, but I think its too cold at present. It doesn't matter there is plenty of material to have another go in spring.
                         
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                        • pete

                          pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                          Could it be a kapok tree @shiney

                          Taking a second look, I'm not so sure.:biggrin:

                          Ceiba insignis perhaps
                           
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                            Last edited: Nov 28, 2017
                          • shiney

                            shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                            It looks somewhat similar but not sure. :blue thumb:
                             
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                            • shiney

                              shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                              @PeterS I can't remember what time of year she takes cuttings (probably whenever she feels like it) but they're softwood stems and kept in the kitchen where it's bright and warm.
                               
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                              • PeterS

                                PeterS Total Gardener

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                                I think light is very important as well as heat.
                                 
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