Hola,
I have grown this plant, and like it very much. I live in zone 7 so it dies in the winter. I have 9 plants growing in cups inside my house right now. My neighbor has 2 bee hives, but his bees did not pollinate plants I had in previous years. We do not have nectar bats here. Our bats only eat insects. This year, I would like to hand-pollinate the plants if I can.
Buena suerte en sua jardin.
Gracias,
Robin

Would or could anyone share some of those seeds with me
see my list or contact me offline please

Carol

If anyone would like to share those with me, I was just looking for a vine for my zone (7). Of course, I will pay for shipping.

Please let me know. You may also contact me offline at lhendri479@aol.com

Thank You
Linda In NC

If you can't find anyone with seeds to trade, you can buy then quite reasonably ($1.50 for 20 seeds) from Pinetree Garden Seeds.

Thanks for the information, I had wondered what pollinated these plants as I have grown many years and never seen any seeds formed. Like marbles I am in zone 7 and have tried to overwinter the plant inside with no success. I also have to start them inside as the plant seems to require a long growing season to flower.

I would love to see your pictures, danielbotanico.

I grew them for the first time last year. Great vine. Something pollinated mine, as they gave me seeds. The ones I grew in a container grew much faster than in the ground. You need a large container, as they have large root systems.Don't let them dry out. The ones in the ground will catch up. Some of mine grew 30ft. You need a good fast mix for a container. I used Al's mix "tapla" container forum. Great mix! I could send some seeds, but I'm not sure if these are any good yet. And they are cheap enough on line. I bought some whites ones for this year. filix

Here's a couple of pics. filix

I heard Bats pollinate them!!

I still need seeds LOL

Carol

Summer hill seeds. 2.25 a pack. They have the white ones too. I'm not sure if I dried out the seeds I have the correct way. I will try too sprout a few, see what happens. filix

Incredible pictures filix - never thought of growing them up a tree. They do seem to like some shade here in my hot climate. We have lots of bats around here but they weren't interested. Have you ever tried to overwinter them in a container?

Thankyou squirrelspur. Yes I tried overwintering with no luck. filix

Thanks for the great pics. Now I KNOW that I want these seeds! I have just the right size big, ugly tree to grow them up - lol

Thanks

I had hundreds of blooms on these. They start out green then turn purple and fall off. But theres many more coming right behind it. You can use them for cut flowers too. I would pick one or two that were almost peak, bring them in put them in a vase with other flowers. They still fall off inside but you have so many blooms who cares. filix

I bought both white and purple variety seeds on Ebay. That's an awesome source for all types of seeds.

Thanks Filix for all your information and the pictures.

Your in the same zone 5 as me so I guess those bats or night moths are doing their jobs pollinating at night
LOL that was one of my concerns.

I have a friend down in Florida who has never heard of
these wonderful vines growing down there said it might
be it's too hot in Florida?

Carol

I doubt it. These vines originate in mexico. I used to live in florida. Never grew them down there. I was into citrus. filix.

This is great for all the responses to the initial message!
Cobaea scandens is my favorite tropical plant, I've seen it growing wild in the jungle mountains of Perú. The plants I grew in my garden never produced fruits, but gave abundant flowering all the year. I used AIA hormone for accelerate rooting for new young branches which I pruned from the mother plant, then the first 6-10 months in greenhouse under almost tropic conditions till the plant have reached 2 meters (always help the tendrils)(I grew this plant as a perennial). I include two pics of this amazing plant that grew out of control in my garden.
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1571/cobaeakiutex1.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2113/s5023917zc8.jpg
The seeds I got are from this entity: www dot oranjebandzaden dot nl
good luck !

Here is a link that might be useful: Botanical in Peru

Those plants I mentioned earlier have done well. I am going to attempt to bring them inside for the winter. I did not have any success with hand-pollinating. I will try again next year. I grew the whites one year, but have decided not to again. My reason is that the whites disappear in the foliage (because the white is a very pale green). Also the purple ones are that same very pale green when they first come out, so that color is present on the purple one. Frankly, it stands out better on the purples because the foliage has a lot of purple, whereas the foliage on the alba is a light green. The flowers on the purple gradually fill in there purple color over time, and this looks nice too.
Robin

This is my first time growing the cup and saucer vine. I grew these vines indoors in March , now they are in big pots, outside climbing a fence that is very shady (the sun is behind the fence). Because this is a shady area , will the vine flower? Thank you for any tips you can give me.

What happens after the flowers are gone, summer ends ? Is this plant coming back next year with again the same result? I've mine cobaea Scanden in a large container and it is still growing and producing flowers. First the color shows yellow and then turns into a purple. It's amazing.

I live in northern California. I think, it's zone 7 ?