Archive for March, 2008

Producing your own hybrids can be profitable. Your first step will be to take pollen from one flower and place it on the stigma of another. The best time is when the blossom has been expanded at least 3 days. The pollinated flower will drop off, and you will notice the formation of a half-sphere-this is the seed capsule, within the calyx. Seeds ripen in 6 to 8 weeks when the capsule splits. Clip the capsule to keep the seeds from falling onto the soil. Remove and store in a cool dry place. Vitality of seeds diminishes with age.

There are endless possibilities in gloxinia hybridization. Most of the species will cross successfully with hybrid forms. And since the species have a richness and flexibility of foliage that is lacking in modern forms, they should be good material for you to use in your hybridizing program. Should some of your hybrids impress you and your customers as really choice, you may want to work on the strain. Do it by self-pollinating the plants or by pollinating the hybrids with one of the parents, depending on which trait you wish to encourage and enlarge upon.

One of my most beautiful slipper strains resulted from a cross between a wide-faced white-and-purple gloxinia and a pink form of Sinningia species. From this cross came a range of huge, ruffled, pink-flushed, white slipper gloxinias. As I lacked room to grow them on, I sold some of the tubers to a florist who was eager to propagate them. Another beautiful batch of gloxinias came from a cross I made between a pink slipper and S. macrophylla. Flowers were in shades of blue, lavender, and deep purple; foliage was intermediate between the two parents-light olive-green, soft rose underneath. A commercial grower tested these seeds for

72. Fads come and go, but the scented-leaf geraniums, such as Camphor Rose, seem never out of favor. (Courtesy, Wilson Bros.)

me, as I lacked space for a fair trial. He declared that he had never had so beautiful a group of slipper types as had come from these seeds. To preserve the seed strain, I grew a few and I supply one commercial house with about fifty tubers of these a year. I receive 40 cents apiece for these. I also include some of the seeds in my gesneriad mixture.

Advantages of Seed

Gloxinias can be propagated from seed, leaf or plant cuttings, or tuber divisions. You get the best return for your money as well as the best-formed tubers when you grow from seed. Species come true to form from seed; varieties do not, and you get a wide range of colors from a packet of seeds.

The seeds are very fine. Sown in February and grown under optimum conditions, they produce flowers by late May or June; those given only general care will not flower until August or September. Sow the seeds on light soil or in vermiculite or milled sphagnum and peatmoss. Sprinkle on top of the moistened medium, press down lightly, but do not cover with soil. Put glass over them and set in a warm house. If seeds are reasonably fresh, germination takes place in 7 to 10 days. As seedlings grow, plant them 2 inches apart in a flat of light soil or the soil recommended for tubers. When leaves touch, shift into 3-inch pots. Another shift-to 5-inchers-is advisable before blooming time. Liquid fertilizer applied at 2-week intervals will bring on a good quantity of flower buds.

Gloxinias from, Leaf Cuttings

Should you want more of some named hybrids, propagate by leaf cuttings. Cut the petiole about an inch long and insert it in any sterilized growing medium. Roots form in 4 to 6 weeks. Sometimes the old leaf dies after forming a new tuber, or it

70. This array of geranium leaves is merely representative of the clan’s

fascinatingly wide range of foliage forms and colors, not to mention

fragrances. Fancy-leaved geraniums sell well at any season, for they

are often purchased just for their foliage. (Photograph by Roche)

may send up a new plant or two before bowing out. If new plants show, cut off and pot up in 4-inch pots and give the same culture as for potted tubers. Otherwise, keep the tubers in the flat, giving them an occasional watering, until they sprout; then move to 4-inch pots.

71. Handsome, long-lasting flower heads, easily produced in the greenhouse, are the major attraction of Martha Washington. (Courtesy, Wilson Bros.)