A couple of weeks ago I sowed a couple of strelitzia seeds, but I didn't
realise that you had to soak them beforehand for 24-48 hours. So, should I
dig them out of their soil and soak them now, or should I just leave them
and hope for the best?

Thanks.

On Mon, 16 Jun 2003 11:13:32 +0100, "Janice" wrote:

~A couple of weeks ago I sowed a couple of strelitzia seeds, but I didn't
~realise that you had to soak them beforehand for 24-48 hours. So, should I
~dig them out of their soil and soak them now, or should I just leave them
~and hope for the best?

Dig them up, I'd say. They don't germinate for ages so plenty of time
of you only sowed them 2 weeks ago! Before you soak, make sure the
orange tassel is removed, as this also opens up a conduit into the
seed. Keep warm after sowing.
(Normal germination is anything from 1-18 months. I got one going
after a year of seeing nothing. I dug it out and cheated by shaving
the outer casing very gently with a penknife to let more moisture in.
Then when it was shooting I made the mistake of letting my mum near
it. She forgot to water it. :-( )
My now 2-year old plant was sown in May 2001 and I found a shoot in
July 2001. It's still only got about 6 leaves - they are not the
fastest growers in history, so I hope you're patient!

If anyone wants to cheat, I was taken by friends to the Palm Centre in
Richmond yesterday. Fantastic place with lots of plants. And
reasonably priced - eg aspidistras were £13 for a dozen leaves instead
of the £17 for six as they are in my local Van Hage GC. ( I now have
one, dubbed Uncle of course!)
They have several square yards of potted S. Reginae, from £10
upwards. They even have the giant one - S. Nicolai. (They do mail
order - http://www.palmcentre.co.uk/ )

Good luck!

--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!

"jane" wrote in message
...
: On Mon, 16 Jun 2003 11:13:32 +0100, "Janice" wrote:
:
: ~A couple of weeks ago I sowed a couple of strelitzia seeds, but I didn't
: ~realise that you had to soak them beforehand for 24-48 hours. So, should
I
: ~dig them out of their soil and soak them now, or should I just leave them
: ~and hope for the best?
:
: Dig them up, I'd say. They don't germinate for ages so plenty of time
: of you only sowed them 2 weeks ago! Before you soak, make sure the
: orange tassel is removed, as this also opens up a conduit into the
: seed. Keep warm after sowing.
: (Normal germination is anything from 1-18 months. I got one going
: after a year of seeing nothing. I dug it out and cheated by shaving
: the outer casing very gently with a penknife to let more moisture in.
: Then when it was shooting I made the mistake of letting my mum near
: it. She forgot to water it. :-( )
: My now 2-year old plant was sown in May 2001 and I found a shoot in
: July 2001. It's still only got about 6 leaves - they are not the
: fastest growers in history, so I hope you're patient!
:
: If anyone wants to cheat, I was taken by friends to the Palm Centre in
: Richmond yesterday. Fantastic place with lots of plants. And
: reasonably priced - eg aspidistras were £13 for a dozen leaves instead
: of the £17 for six as they are in my local Van Hage GC. ( I now have
: one, dubbed Uncle of course!)
: They have several square yards of potted S. Reginae, from £10
: upwards. They even have the giant one - S. Nicolai. (They do mail
: order - http://www.palmcentre.co.uk/ )
:
: Good luck!
:
: --
: jane
:
And, just a reminder, they take 5-7 yrs to flower!! Mine must be about 3-4
yrs now and are about a foot in height.

K

The message
from "K" contains these words:

And, just a reminder, they take 5-7 yrs to flower!! Mine must be about 3-4
yrs now and are about a foot in height.

...and just to be smug, mine is in flower now :-)

Janet.

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
: The message
: from "K" contains these words:
:
: And, just a reminder, they take 5-7 yrs to flower!! Mine must be about
3-4
: yrs now and are about a foot in height.
:
: ...and just to be smug, mine is in flower now :-)
:
: Janet.
:
Boo, hiss :O)) Did you grow it from seed? If so, is it its first year to
flower and how old is it?

K

The message
from "K" contains these words:


"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
: The message
: from "K" contains these words:
:
: And, just a reminder, they take 5-7 yrs to flower!! Mine must be about
3-4
: yrs now and are about a foot in height.
:
: ...and just to be smug, mine is in flower now :-)
:
: Janet.
:
Boo, hiss :O)) Did you grow it from seed? If so, is it its first year to
flower and how old is it?

Nah, not that patient. I bought it cheap as a 3-leaf plant and iirc
had to wait two or three years for the first flower. Meanwhile I stuck a
fake life-sized strelitzia flower stem in the pot...fairly convincing to
a passing glance until its colour faded :~}. In it's second year of
flowering, I accidentally knocked off the only flower bud before it
opened :-((((. This is the third flowering year; still only one flower
though.

Janet.

"jane" wrote in message

If anyone wants to cheat, I was taken by friends to the Palm Centre in
Richmond yesterday. Fantastic place with lots of plants. And
reasonably priced - eg aspidistras were £13 for a dozen leaves instead
of the £17 for six as they are in my local Van Hage GC. ( I now have
one, dubbed Uncle of course!)
They have several square yards of potted S. Reginae, from £10
upwards. They even have the giant one - S. Nicolai. (They do mail
order - http://www.palmcentre.co.uk/ )


Oh I do hope Sue doesn't read that, she has wanted a Strelitzia for years
but I've always said they were too expensive . Do you know if they had the
yellow form?
Kirstenbosch Gold or some such. I daren't look. :-)

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

K wrote in message ...
:
Boo, hiss :O)) Did you grow it from seed? If so, is it its first year
to
flower and how old is it?

K

Mine is about 10 years old, grown from seed and has flowered only once,
but this year it ahs decided to split again, so I now have three growing
points, hopefully this will mean better flowering.

Mike
www.british-naturism.org.uk

On Tue, 17 Jun 2003 23:09:04 +0100, "Sue & Bob Hobden"
wrote:

~
~"jane" wrote in message
~
~ If anyone wants to cheat, I was taken by friends to the Palm Centre in
~ Richmond yesterday. Fantastic place with lots of plants. And
~ reasonably priced - eg aspidistras were £13 for a dozen leaves instead
~ of the £17 for six as they are in my local Van Hage GC. ( I now have
~ one, dubbed Uncle of course!)
~ They have several square yards of potted S. Reginae, from £10
~ upwards. They even have the giant one - S. Nicolai. (They do mail
~ order - http://www.palmcentre.co.uk/ )
~
~
~Oh I do hope Sue doesn't read that, she has wanted a Strelitzia for years
~but I've always said they were too expensive . Do you know if they had the
~yellow form?
~Kirstenbosch Gold or some such. I daren't look. :-)
~
Not that I noticed. I was pretty amazed to find the giant ones as it
was. I suspect I'd have bought the gold one if it had been there -
they are very pretty!

I was looking to see if I could work out what was the minimum size
needed for S. reginae flowering, and it seemed to be the £25
three-crowned ones. But the thing I'm most amazed about was the leaf
size. Most of the single-crowned plants had 8 or 9 leaves, but they
were all like daggers - 4-5" widths and about 8" long. The one
currently popping out of my plant is a good 12-13" long and about 6-7"
wide, ie a heck of a lot more leaf area. I am wondering if this is a
function of light levels or heat. Again, I do not know if flowering is
related to leaf number or leaf energy-producing area. (In amaryllis
it's definitely the number of leaves produced.)
I suspect that the reason for the wide time variation in flowering
onset is quite complex!

So, the new question for all you with flowering strelitzias is how big
are your leaves and how many are there on the plant? :-)


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!

"Michael Berridge" wrote in message
...
:
: K wrote in message ...
: :
: Boo, hiss :O)) Did you grow it from seed? If so, is it its first year
: to
: flower and how old is it?
:
: K
:
: Mine is about 10 years old, grown from seed and has flowered only once,
: but this year it ahs decided to split again, so I now have three growing
: points, hopefully this will mean better flowering.
:
: Mike
: www.british-naturism.org.uk
:
Did it flower one year and then not for a few years. I need to know this,
so that when it flowers in a few years' time and then doesn't flower the
following year, I shall know not to chuck it out. :O((

K

In article ,
K wrote:

:
Did it flower one year and then not for a few years. I need to know this,
so that when it flowers in a few years' time and then doesn't flower the
following year, I shall know not to chuck it out. :O((
Given the right treatment, it should flower every year. I am no
expert, but treat them roughly - they are adapted to fairly harsh
conditions of poor soil and long droughts.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

. Do you know if they had the
~yellow form?
~Kirstenbosch Gold or some such. I daren't look.

The name was 'Kirstenbosch Gold' until 1996 when Kirstenbosch was granted
permission to re-name it 'Mandela's Gold'.

K wrote in message ...

:
Did it flower one year and then not for a few years. I need to know
this,
so that when it flowers in a few years' time and then doesn't flower
the
following year, I shall know not to chuck it out. :O((

Yes, it flowered a couple of years ago, but not since.

Mike
www.british-naturism.org.uk

jane wrote in message ...


So, the new question for all you with flowering strelitzias is how big
are your leaves and how many are there on the plant? :-)


Mine has 15 leaves from three crowns. The leaves are about 14" long and
4" wide at the widest part.

Mike
www.british-naturism.org.uk

The message
from "Michael Berridge" contains these words:


jane wrote in message ...


So, the new question for all you with flowering strelitzias is how big
are your leaves and how many are there on the plant? :-)


Mine has 15 leaves from three crowns. The leaves are about 14" long and
4" wide at the widest part.

Mine has one crown, one flower spike, and 3 leaves, the largest of
which is 19" long and 6" wide. Would have been 5 leaves but two got
battered during our house removal so I took them off.

Janet