Which ampullacea did you use, Dennis? How big are those? Do you have pics from the side, showing the form and pupping habit? Are they coming into bloom or is that the unblooming color?

They still have a bit of that "seedling" look, i.e. not fully formed. I wouldn't attempt to remove any more pups, let it clump a bit. It's hard to know until you can get a good sense of what their natural growth habit and general appearance is going to be, whether or not either will be "keepers" in their own right, but I see some definite potential for building on with future crosses, especially the first one. In my opinion there is a need for more small brightly colored Neos.

Hi Lisa

I flushed the cups and no sign of a bloom. They have been feed so they are larger than they should be. Soon after I moved them to brighter light they started to colour up and I was very suprised by their colour. Neo ampullacea rubra...or what I think is amp rubra. See pic below.

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Hmmm looking at that pic is it possible that I have my labels incorrect? Or is it possible for such a different plant to germinate from a grex?

Let me get a few pics from the side and I'll place an object so that you get an idea of size...

Thanks

Dennis

I don't know if you have your labels incorrect or not, Dennis, but I'm not seeing a huge reason to doubt the parentage just yet. Zonates often don't pass on their zonation, but usually you'll get at least some fine speckling from them. I'm not seeing that here, and the carolinae color is stronger than I would have expected on the first one, but neither of those things is impossible. It would be interesting to see the entire grex next to both parents before coming to any conclusion about that. If none of the offspring have any speckling or banding, then I would question the ampullacea parentage.

Hi all

Lisa: I have the pics!

Grex pic with slop size 10 UK for scale

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With pup from pollen parent at top and an amp below.
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Pic of banding and pup...You were right there is some spotting (purple). Pic shows the pup. A few of the seedlings have this purple blotching.

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This is the cross the other way. car red x amp rubra. The plant was developing a nice purple colour....and then I started feeding.

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Hi Dennis.
The first seedlings are not distinctive, in my opinion (sorry!), but the reverse cross results are definitely very promising - congratulations, and good luck with them.

K

Thanks Kerry-no problem at all. I have way too many and need to learn the "dark arts" very soon.

Cheers

Dennis

Dennis, this last picture, do put my name on one of those pups!

With so much white in the leaves, is the plant very slow growing? I would love to see a picture of it when the fertiliser wears off. Very nice plant!

Japie

I would still hang onto #1 and see what it does. If it develops more distinctive form with age, or inherits amp's stolons, or colors up even more when it blooms, it could be worth something. Also, as I said earlier, I don't necessarily look at seedlings as finished products, but as midway steps to where you ultimately want to go, and I see that one going in the right direction.

Of course the variegate is more eye-catching, but with so many people figuring out how to make variegates now, we need to put the same standards into play for them as we would with the non-variegates. It's got to have something more going on than just green and white stripes, or how are we going to tell them all apart? It will be interesting to see how much of the ampullacea DNA shows up there once the fertilizer has worn off a bit, and how the pattern of variegation holds up. Again, there could be good potential for further crosses.

The trouble with carolinae is that it tends to overpower a lot of what you cross it with. Since most variegates begin with carolinae, a lot of first generation crosses are going to look kind of similar, but the further you can get away from the source, the more distinctive the future generations will be. Just my opinion.

Hi Guys

Japie: I will do...Its about half the size of the other seedlings from the same time. The one that has the burning in the other post is a sibling. I wouldnt say all that slow now that I put some "balls" in the mix. From the look of it so far I dont think its going to be a big plant.

Lisa: Ok I will hang onto #1 and see what happens...I like the pinky colour that it has. Lots of th seedling car x amp had some nice ampullacea banding before I fertilized.

Ja I agree Lisa how to choose a good variegated hybrid is not and easy task. I am hoping a couple will be worthwhile from this grex, if not as you say I can use them to develop new plants.

THANKS for all the help

Dennis

Dennis, are you saying that the one from the other post also has ampullacea as the pollen parent? Or are they half siblings? I would have said the other one has a marmorated Neo for a daddy.

Hi Lisa

No, same seed parent different daddy....momma was a busy girl!

Cheers

Dennis