I notice I have a BUNCH of seeds coming on this plant....has anyone grown them from seed? If successful...I would love your secrets!!!
BTW, I noticed on Top Tropicals website that this plant will not survive below 64deg. Well...we had many nights in the upper 50s last year and they are bigger and better than ever!!!!
Carol
Medinilla miniata question.....
I found this on a google.com search - seedhunt.com:
Medinilla cumingii (previously identified as M. speciosa) - Melastomataceae. Native to mountain forests of Indonesia this small woody shrub makes a dramatic house plant and may be grown out of doors in coastal California. The leaves are large (up to 8 in. long and 6 in. wide) with heavy substance and prominent veins. Numerous small pink flowers are borne on pink stems in large, long lasting, pendant panicles. Fruits begin pink and slowly acquire a blue cast, turning dark blue when ripe. Germination is prompt and at high rates. The fine seed may be treated as in Rhododendron. Use a fine, free draining acid mix to start. As plants develop, transfer to a coarser, fir bark based mix and feed regularly. An impressive house plant, but can be grown outdoors in coastal California.
Thanks for that, Kay! I have propagated the cominsii and the magnifica (wiped the pods on damp moss on tree bark and a year later...babies) but never the miniata. Can't hurt to try, can it?
Thanks again!!!
Carol
Heck, Carol - in Hawaii, I'd think you could find it self-seeded everywhere! There are reports that beg people NOT to plant this 'thug' in Hawaii.
Actually...it is more the M. magnifica and the cominsii. And some of the other common ones. A few of them are difficult....and don't go berserk. I know that the M. 'Lalique' is rather delicate... they are semi-epiphytic at best...but the rampant ones do a great job in the GROUND!!!
I guess the M. miniata isn't too common, so, here's a photo. It is growing in the crotch of a tree and the leaves are almost 2 feet long...the red flower is seen on the left. It really is a beautiful plant....I have another one growing in cinders in the ground...
I have a big M. minata in the greenhouse. It blooms all the time but I have not ever noticed seeds. But on the low temp issue, I left it out when temps were in the mid 40's the first winter I had it when it was still in a container and it suffered absolutely no damage. And this was more than a night or 2. I moved it to the GH when the first frost was predicted, then found a place for it in there and planted it. 64 is way off for its hardiness. I have rooted a cutting that I am growing, I am going to plant it out in spring and see if it will make it here with winter protection (so many things do...my white taccas I planted out last year that froze to the ground are quite large now and blooming their heads off)
GQ...it really grows happily epiphytically!!!! and it is cool to see such hUGE leaves in a tree!
YOu know, disregard everything I said!! This is embarrassing but I was thinking about M. myriantha, not M. miniata (aka magnifica)! Mine is the pink Medinilla, not the red one, and it may very well be much more hardy than the red one.
Is M. miniata syn for magnifica? I was told it (miniata)is the red one with the huge leaves? Gotta research this more, I guess.
I had heard that they were the same plant. All of them are epiphytic or semi-epiphytic.
Yes...that photo is taken of one growing about 12' up in the crotch of a tree. According to a couple of growers here and Zone9 Tropicals (who were just over here) they are different species.
Carol