I have added a reply about this to Tonnys question
Can Virus be transmiited through Brugmansia seeds?
Monika,
Receive first my sincere condolences on your loss of your Mother.
Next, I want to thank you for your advice of handling of young plants and overall stock plant materials. In fact, D. arborea “Ida” is garden grown. Nevertheless, I have never encountered virus symptoms on the mother plant, even not under stress. The same is true of my Datura seed accessions, when grown out. Maybe I have just been lucky :)
However, shortly Lene and I will be moving down south to Lolland (in Denmark close to Puttgarden, Germany) and in the spring we will build a greenhouse large enough to protect all of our stock against virus from outer sources.
I hope, that you didn`t take offence of my postings, where I suggest the possibility that Brugmansia seeds can carry virus inside. I write this, because I can see now, after reviewing some old posts, that these could easily be misunderstood, as my posting of this issue came up concurrently with Vicki Harding’s postings on the same issue. Nevertheless, my motives were quite different. The suggestions I put forward were never directed against seeds or plants of any particular stock. They rest solely on my 12 long experiences with growing Datura.
All in all: I assumed that since there are only minor insignificant differences in the genetic make-up between Datura and Brugmansia, then Brugmansia seeds would respond similar to seed born virus strains as Datura species would. I must admit, that I think of the segregation between Genus Datura and Genus Brugmansia more as an academically "child’s game", than of one of natures realities. This was my honest conclusion obtained, when I realized, that it was equally possible to lead proof for Genus segregation as against it.
To make a looonger story short: I set up the mentioned experiment in the firm hope, that I would prove myself wrong :)
btw. What kind of disinfection agent would you recommend?
btw. also: I thought, that I could "substitute" the isolation of the virus species with plain transfering of plant juice. Why wouldn`t this work as a controlled experiment?
Tonny
This message was edited Tuesday, Feb 5th 5:03 PM
I learned from the leading virologist in Europe that Brugmansia seeds are free of Virus. I met him 1995 in Hannover during a meeting and hold contact to him since.
To be sure about a Virus infection in a plant, the Virus is isolated, brought on to a carrier plant, isolated again and then back to a healthy Brugmansia plant. That is the procedure (as far as I can remember) and it is named after its discoverer. I have to look it up, I will let you know the name.
Dont worry about your postings. It is not easy to express youself in another language. We both know the traps in our own language, the different meanings of one and the same word.
The desinfectant I am using is Mennoflorades. I water and spray the plants with 10ml in 10l Wasser or dip fresh cuttings. Cleaning pots, cutting tools or wiping tables etc in 40ml in 10l Wasser.
Datura seeds are hardy in Europe, they withstand frost but not Brugmansia seeds. There is a close relationship to our european Solanacea Family. But they are much more poisonous as Brugmansia.
Thanks for reminding me of the traps in languages, Monika. I fell much more at ease now. Guess, that youwon`t believe, how many such traps there are implicit in the Danish language. Danes trick eachother all of the time. It is a sort of hobby or just-passing-time-thing.
... for instance it will be dangerous for me to visit America these days *lol* I would be eaten for breakfast ... see for yourself. It is mentioned right behind the Butter Croissants:
Breakfast (daily)
2 Types of juice - Tea, Instant & fresh US coffee, Chocolate
3 Types of Cheese - Butter, Honey, Variety of marmalades , Peanut Butter Croissant, DANISH, toast.
Eggs : your choice - Pan cakes - Slices of fruit + Grape Fruit
Cereals - Salami or sausages
Tonny
roflol!!!
I think that I will swich over to Mennoflorades too. If you can dilute it and apply it to living plants it is less harmfull, than the bleech and other things I use.
Datura is not only frost hardy, it benefit from frost.
The first years I grew out D. ceratocaula and D. quercifolia, I obtained a germination rate of one to thousand in two month and that was end of the story.
I didn`t know about GA-3 back then, so I just sowed thes as you would tomatoes, - up in a small pot of ordinary sowing-mix and put on a heater (temperatures of 25-30*C).
Well ... but these plants became parents to such large number of plants, that I now have trouble keeping them down at a level.
The few plants, that I initially obtained was self-pollinated and by accident some of the seeds slipped into the garden soil, when I harvested the pods.
After spending the winter in the garden, they came up everywhere and since I had to work to control them.
Daturas can be a pest when allowed to grow in the garden. Several Datura species are common weed in Germany.