The Titanopsis are Flowering
My collection of Titanopsis calcarea plants are all in flower, just in time for a Christmas/Winter Solstice display. Often I don't have an opportunity to enjoy their winter solstice flowers, because they are safely inside their over-wintering frames and covered with several layers of clear plastic. This year however, the weather has been warm enough to allow removing the plastic and take a few photos.
I was particularly excited to see three of my seedlings in flower. These three plants have very nicely textured leaves and they grew rapidly this past summer. However, I did not expect flowers until sometime next year, but they decided to join the other Titanopsis in flowering during the past two weeks. Yes, I did get my brush a do a little pollinating. :)
Flowering along with these seedlings was my oldest and largest Titanopsis calcarea plant. The seed that produced this plant was planted in October 1995. The pot is a 15cm ceramic pot.
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Obviously, Titanopsis calcarea are enjoying the increased light and lower winter night temperatures that the outdoor over-wintering frames provide. I'm just happy their flowering coincided with a bit of warm weather.
I wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season and a Wonderful New Year. It has been a great pleasure discussing our favorite plants over the past year and I look forward to it continuing in 2014.
Bob
This is the sight right out of a dream of a mesemb fan :) Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteAre those the red calcareas from before? Please pollinate!
Happy holidays to you too :)
Hello Rika and Thank You. It is nice to see some success from your labors. Yes one of the three seedling Titanopsis is the one that has some red coloration in the leaves. I have done some pollination between the three seedlings. Fingers crossed I get some seed. Happy Holidays and hope you have some time off from work to enjoy yourself.
ReplyDeleteHope the pollination went well because I would love to buy some of the seeds of the red mother plant from you ;)
Deletecalcareas=♡
Rika I haven't had a chance to check the plants for any fruit development. Next time I peek inside the frame I'll take a close look. Unfortunately, I only had two chances to pollinate. Usually I try to do it everyday until the flowers fade. However, there should be lots of pollinating chances later this year as these plants grow bigger and produce more flowers.
DeleteBeautiful. A great sight all flowering at once. I am glad the weather stayed warm. I am pleased mine flowered a little while ago as I do not think it is bright enough now. A much clearer yellow flower than mine which are a little peach.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alain. The frames are closed again due to colder weather but I may get to open them again this coming weekend. This is one of the main drawbacks of the outdoor frames. New Christmas present to myself was a new digital pH meter and buffer solution. We are on well water and there is quite a fluctuation in well water pH. My old meter stopped working a few weeks ago and I decided it was time for a new one.
DeleteDo you aim for a certain PH? I have never checked the water I use but know it is hard.
DeleteMost plants, including succulents, grow best at a slightly acidic pH, somewhere between 5.7 and 6.5. It is within this range that most of the essential elements required by plants (from the soil) are most readily available. My well water varies considerably from season to season, but often is in the 6.8 to 7.8 range. I then use small amounts of vinegar to lower the pH of my plant water. Plants are generally quite tolerant of a wide range of pH's but it is a good idea to keep an eye on container mix pH, especially those that have low buffering characteristics.
DeleteThere was an article in the last BCSS Journal about pH of tap water in the UK but the end result seems to be if you are not having any problems do not change anything which usually is the best approach. Happy new year.
DeleteWow! The big pot is amazing! I had just one T. flowering this year.
ReplyDeleteHi Sanny. Yes, I like the big Titanopsis plant also. That's what you can get when you keep a plant growing for 18 years!
ReplyDeleteWow! Those are some happy plants! Congratulations! To add to the pH conversation, the tap water is very alkaline here, so I add 4-5 drops of rice vinegar per liter of filtered water, and that works well. I experimented and tested with the water and vinegar ratios until I got it to 5.8.
ReplyDelete