13 replies to this topic

[Dieter]

Dear all,

last summer my U. nelumbifolia and U. reniformis were flowering profusely and I could not resist the temptation to cross these species. All pollinated flowers produced seeds generously. I sowed them directly in water:



The seeds germinated within several hours and a few more hours later the seedlings looked like that:



I spread around a good part of the seedlings and started 3 pots myself which I placed into different setups. One got a spot in a tank in my living room, where it spend the whole winter. In spring I planted the youngsters into a larger pot. This one showed already two flower stalks which reached about 1-2 cm before dying back.
Fortunately, in early summer another two flower stalks appeared which developed quickly. The plant started to flower a few weeks ago. The flower stalks are very flexible (like its seed parent U. nelumbifolia) which makes it very difficult to take some decent pictures as the flower stalk is always in motion.









In the other pots so far no flower stalks are visible.

I hope you like this one!
Dieter

Edited by Dieter, 08 August 2009 - 15:31 PM.

[rsivertsen]

That's great! Did you get to make the reciprocal cross, or are all the hybrids one way?  What do their leaves look like?  - Rich

Edited by rsivertsen, 08 August 2009 - 15:38 PM.

[Dieter]

Yes, I made both crosses. Currently, there is not much difference to see. The leaf form is quite variable, both produce runners sometimes, both are vigorous growers (not really a surprise as the parents are also quite vigorous).

Here are a few more shots:

First the plant as it looked when I repotted it in april:


a leaf:



size comparison with the pollen parent: the large leaves have currently the size of small leaves from this U. reniformis


Cheers
Dieter

Edited by Dieter, 08 August 2009 - 17:24 PM.

[Daniel O.]

Hi Dieter,

congratulation, good job.
The flowers are really nice, how big are they in comparison to their parents?

It will be interesting to see if the hybrid will behave like U. reniformis with a kind of dormacy or like U. nelumbifolia with no real dormacy.

Best regards,

Dani

[Sean Spence]

Coincidentally I've just collected seed from a cross I made between U. nelumbifolia & U. reniformis and the reverse.

All seed was placed in various ziplock bags of water and I was surprised that the seed from the U. reniformis parent germinated just as quickly as the seed from the U. nelumbifolia parent. Each bag is currently full of small green starfish

[Javier Fernandez Diaz]

wow! Incredible!

The 4 photo is...is...i no have words!

Very good work!

[Philippe(France)]

Hi all,

Great job!
This summer I did the reverse cross. I harvested some seeds which I saw directly on peet. I'll give some photos later...
Can you see some "volubilis/climber" stems on your hybrid that we can see on U.nelumbifolia?
Philippe

[Fernando Rivadavia]

Congratulations on the crosses and on the pics!! I find it amazing that they are so vigorous with huge stolons and even flowered after only 1 year of growth! Do you fertilkize your plants?

Best wishes,
Fernando

[Amar]

Good god, whoever said CPs have a poorly developed rootsystem...

[Dieter]

Fernando Rivadavia, on 16th September 2009 - 08:06 AM, said:

Do you fertilkize your plants?

Hi Fernando,

I did not fertilize them during winter or this year. They may have gotten a bit of fertilizer last year, but if I recall correctly, they did not.

Currently, I have this cross and the parent U. reniformis (somewhat out of season) in flower. Great plants! They inflorescences of the hybrid are a bit longer (let it be 10-20 cm) and much more flexible. Even the slightest hint of wind will make them move whereas the U. reniformis inflorescences are quite robust and need much more air movement before getting into motion.

Best regards
Dieter

[mobile]

Sorry for resurrecting an old topic, buts it's relevant to what I want to ask. Is the above method of germinating seeds in water suitable for U. reniformis species, i.e. not just above the cross? I have read elsewhere that this species does not like its feet wet, so when seedlings are transferred to pots do you then reduce the moisture level?

[Dieter]

I did not try very often with U. reniformis, but from what I recall you can sow them this way. I planted the seedlings onto substrate a few days after germination. I tried several substrate mixes which did not seem to make much of a difference. When I would do this again, I would probably go for a top layer of dead sphagnum and put the seedlings on top of it. Beneath I suggest you use your prefered substrate mix (for U. reniformis I use the standard substrate, nothing special).

Best regards
Dieter

[jimscott]

Great photography!

[TheInactiveMoth]

I had no idea that the seeds could be sown directly into water, and that they grew so quickly!
That said, I've never had the interest in utrics from seed...