They didn’t like it at my house... :-(

Hi Fred,

Excellent! They look good. I am jealous of your labeling system. Most of my plants no longer have labels and I've sort of forgotten what some of them are.

I did not take any pics - I hate to say it, but after having so many bloom I did not take pics of the last 4.

I have perhaps 80 1 year old Pamianthe from my own seed and have 4 huge pods that should ripen in the next 2-3 months - the pods are now around 13 months old. These seem to be incredibly easy to grow and they are so beautiful and fragrant when they bloom. I sent 50 of my seed to my daughter in Japan last year, but she didn't have any luck with them. I hope to send her maybe 100 seed this year and hopefully she can get some to grow this time. I'm guessing yours will bloom in another 1-2 years and I look forward to your pics!

I had 2 different Paramongaia bloom this year and I somehow lost the pollen I saved from the first one so I did not get seed. Not sure what I did with it.

Perhaps TX was to hot for the Worsleya. You are such a great grower I wish they had done well for you.

Good growing, Dan

While I did not take any pics of my Worsleya, here is a Pamianthe from last year that now has 4 pods where there used to be flowers. These are self-fertile and the only issue is the seed pods get so heavy they want to pull the plant completely over :o) Dan

Here is my fall-blooming Paramongaia. The other one I have is the winter bloomer. Unfortunately, I lost the pollen so did not get any seed.

After reading other posts, I'm happy to see I can easily post pics to the forum.

Good growing :o) Dan

Wow Dan,

They're both spectacular!!! I can't wait for mine to bloom!!! What time of the year does your pamianthe flower? As for the labeling system, it's a necessity otherwise I don't the slightest idea of what I have. I tried the "Oh, I'll just wait till they flower" approach...yeah, that didn't work.

Hi Fred,

Thanks! My Pamianthe bloom every year in Feb without fail for the last 3 years. I'm hoping my offsets are big enough to bloom next year so I will have 2-3 plants per pot all blooming at the same time. I'm hoping in another 3 years I will have maybe 20 plants all blooming as they smell really good when in flower.

Yeah, my labeling system is I will remember, but I must have 50-75 pots of plants I can no longer remember what they are - tough getting old!

Good growing :o) Dan

Dan,

Your ongoing success is an inspiration!

I dream of these beauties, but haven't tried growing them.

Cheers,

Blanca

Hi Dan

All The seeds I got from you sprouting,

but all seedlings died after 10 months :-(

Luca, that is disappointing. Do you have any idea what went wrong? Once they get some size on them they are quite easy, but I know they can be finicky the first couple of years.

Blanca, I'm sure with your "green thumb" you would have success, but they do take a long time to flower from seed. Patience is required as my first one from seed bloomed after 8 years and others from this crop likely still have 2-3 years to go before they bloom. I've seen people in ideal conditions bloom them in just 3-4 years, but my climate is far from ideal!

I'm quite lucky in that a couple of my clones are self-fertile or can be crossed. I know other growers never get seed from their clones.

Good growing :o) Dan

Hello Dan! I am interested in some seeds of Your Worsleya. If You have no fears , to send them to Germany..... :-)

Hi Dan, i don't know why all of them died...

Better Luck next time!

Just harvested my first pod of seed and was stunned to see 90 seed. I think this is the most I have ever had from a single pod. Hopefully this helps me pay for my other bad habit of collecting botanical engravings :o) Dan

A slightly off topic question on pamianthe. This is the first time I have been able to grow one to this size and I'm wondering if it would grow outside (still in it's pot) for the summer along with my hippies and in the full sun or should it be in some shade. Also, would the same apply to worsleya? They seem to be growing well and I DON'T wanna kill 'em.

Hi Fred,

Pamianthe like shade. They grow as epiphytes in trees so not in full sun. Personally, I have never had mine outside. They grow in a south facing window here in Pittsburgh and do great. I fertilize once every 2-3 weeks.

Worsleya, I get mine outside in full sun as soon as I can in the spring - slowly adapt them of course, which is easier in April because the sun is lower in the sky. Mine stay outside in full sun anytime the night temps are above 40F. If they are predicing below 40 I put them in the garage and put them back out. Mine are outside from April until at least Oct and sometimes well in to Nov here in my zone.

That is how I grow mine, but take it all with a grain of salt if you are happy with your results so far :o) Dan

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the info :-))) I had an idea that pamianthe grew in the shade but thanks for the heads up. I'm lucky to have a grape vine covered patio and that's where my shade loving plants spend their summer vacation.

dan. how do you germinate Pamianthe ... soak in water overnight? Vermiculite?

Well, I have never floated any seed, but I know lots of people do so I'm guessing it would work. I just barely cover mine in their potting mix (1:1 long-fibered sphagnum moss and orchid bark) and keep them moist and humid so they do not dry out. I have found they can take 2-3 weeks to germinate, In fact, the ones I kept from this recent batch are just now starting to form a baby root and it has been 10 days or so - no leaf yet and most do not have their root yet. Dan

am looking forward to the challenge ...

dave

Didn't get mine from you, but I have a beautiful bulb hanging out on my porch. My bulb is about a foot tall, I'd have to measure it. I'm sure it's not as far along as it could be (due to chronic fear underwatering in winter) and im not entirely sure how old it is but it has startedproducing the curved leaves instead of straight ones since summer started....Maybe there's just better light outside. Anybody who's tried and failed- keep trying. Once you get the routine right they're a piece of cake. My botany professor in college used to tell people not to give up on a plant until they've killed it at least three times. I'm a bit embarrassed to say I've lost more Worsleya than that...don't ask how many...usually because I bought a cheap unrooted bulb that never rooted. Ive had my current little beauty for 2 years now, bought as an offset from a guy on ebay, if anyone is interested i can post the username, not sure if hes selling now but he sells at good prices. Sorry about my rambling, i just dont get to brag about my plants often :)

Wonderful story :-)))) Please post a picture of it if you can.

That is excellent. Yes, if you get a decent plant to begin with they are really easy. The only time I have lost any is in the first 2-3 years after seed germination when they are still small. Once they get past that stage they are almost bullet proof if you have the patience to take care of them. I was just emailing with an excellent plantsman who unfortunately lost a couple of large ones because they were outside in cold rain for an extended period while he was away.

I've never separated any offsets from my mother plants, but I am tempted because they are just getting too large with anywhere between 3-10 large offsets in the same plant with momma. My hope is that if I can keep carrying them around that eventually I will have a pot with 2-3 all blooming at the same time which would be wonderful.

By the way, mine only get watered once per week in the winter when they are under either 400W MH bulbs or a bank of 8 T8 bulbs. I do not overwater in the winter.

Post a pic of yours if you can :o) Dan

update: my Pamianthe seeds from dan are in long-fibered sphagnum in a zip bag, and nothing yet, and it will be ten days later this week. Can hardly wait. I love to open the bag and smell the contents ... yeah, weird, I know.

Dave.

Hi Dave, That is an approach I have never tried, but I hope it works for you. A person sending me a few palm seed as a trade suggested this, but I'm just going to put them in dirt in a pot and let nature take its course.

I now have around 30 of my seedlings with a single thin and short leaf so they are germinating at a good rate (it has likely been over 3 weeks, but I did not put the date on them). I can see lots of other roots without leaves so I am hoping for another 80 or so seedlings this year. I have watered mine with Captan 3 times so far to make sure I do not get any fungus since they are sitting where there is no air circulation and they are so wet all the time. If they make it another month I know I'm good to go.

I hope yours germinate well for you :o) Dan

Dan:

Nine/10 Pamianthe seed showing hints of tiny root. Lost the tenth one somewhere in the zip bag. I probably just missed seeing it. It has been three weeks --- now waiting for hint of leaf. Seeds remain nice and hard. Trying to deduce when to introduce them to full open air.

Started them in sealed one-gallon zip bag in long-fibered sphagnum, above the water heater for constant warmth, and split them into two one-quart bags July 4 leaving about a quarter inch of bag unzipped and migrating bags to sunny window.

Used the same setup on my Joshua tree seed, but am dubious on the transplant success. No green seen. Joshuas just took a couple days to germ.

This also is how I start my desert rose/adenium seed (above the water heater in a zip bag)with about 80 percent success rate, depending upon viability of the seed. I usually plant ten, hoping for 7-8.

Dave

Hi Dave, Glad to hear they germinated so well for you. Yes, you will see a root long before you see a leaf in my experience. I've had mine potted up for probably a month now and I'm still seeing new green emerge! I have maybe 70 seedlings up so far from this years seed to go with the 60+ 15 month old seedlings from last years seed. I'm hoping in a few years to have at least 10 or more blooming at the same time which should be amazing. I hope you get them transplanted well :o) Dan

Just in case anyone is looking for potting media. My source for volcanic cinder in Hawaii quit shippiing as it was too big of a hassle. I found BonsaiJack recently and bought a bunch from them. It is smaller size cinder than I am used to, but it seems to be tough to track this down for a decent price in decent quantities so I thought I would let anyone know this is a possible source if you are interested. NO, I have no affiiation with them at all, but have been looking for cinder for awhile. I repotted 30 of my smaller Worsleya yesterday in to this new stuff (mostly 8" pot size, but a couple of 10-12" size pots as well). so hopefully they put out a lot of new roots and increase a lot in size over the next couple of years :o) Dan

Hi Dan,

I use them too. They have a nice variety of sizes and other useful tools as well.

I know it has been awhile, but after repotting all of my Worsleya in the new volcanic cinder they seem to be doing very well with lots of new leaves and some roots doing their best to grow above the soil. Always glad to see the burst of new roots!

I also have my first ever offset (which is still attached to momma) with a bloom spike emerging - the mother plant flowered last winter and produced lots of seed. I wish they would both flower at the same time, but I'm just glad to see an offset bloom after 10 years. Now that I've had both a plant bloom from seed (from the same momma) and an offset I think I have the hang of this. Hopefully this offset will produce seed even though it is the first time it has bloomed and others have failed on their first attempt :o) Dan

Not sure how I got the new name - I'm sure it is just my incompetence! Dan

Total bummer - I had 4 purple flowers start to open last night and this morning the flower stalk was laying on the ground - I suspect the cat, but the proof is scant. Oh well, it will bloom again in 2 years now that it is big enough to bloom :o) Dan

An in depth interrogation is in order.

Indeed, but the little fur-ball refused to acknowledge her devilish deed. Funny thing is, I bring them in the house every time they are goiing to flower and neither Luna nor her former partners in crime ever did something like this before. Next time I'll leave them in the basement or garage (I try to protect them while in flower so I can make sure to pollinate them without rain messing me up). looking forward to the next one now :o) Dan

Those little stinkers. I had a similar issue with a cymbidium spike and I don't know who dunnit.

I actually keep my bulb in a room that my cats cant access. My cat Toast is like an addict, he chews everything down to the soil. My darling just came in for the winter, the leaves are doing the curl over thing (finally!) So im hoping for flowers soon :) had her for three years now and hopefully im almost to flowers. By the way, thanks fred. Now i know to hide my cymbidium too.

Here's my worsleya in case anyone wants to see

That's a nice looking Worsleya you have - congrats. I'd say you are stil many years from flowering though, unless you live in a better climate for growing them fast than I do. Mine will be coming in for the winter pretty soon I imagine. Once we start dropping below 40F at night I bring them in :o) Dan

Any chance someone has seeds from Worsleya and/or Pamianthe peruviana for sale ? -Jeff

Hi Jeff,

I have one seed pod of Worsleya that should be ripe in a few weeks, but those are all spoken for a long time ago.

I have a large number of Pamianthe seedlings (18 months old) I just repotted from community pots in to individual pots over the weekend (I have maybe 70 or so I am hoping to sell this summer). I am planning on keeping another 30-40 for myself so I can give them to family and friends over the next couple of years. I try to sell my seed of this plant overseas since I can not ship plants to other countries. I;ll have around 400 seed of the Pamianthe and if they do not sell to people overseas I may have some of those, but not likely.

These are a couple of my favorite plants :o) Dan