Seed Pods

It seems the bees or the moths have been busy as several of my brugs are loaded with seed pods. Didn't know they didn't self pollinate until my friend Carol told me.
I offered some of the pods up to my buddies on the hoya forum before being educated.

There were pods that started and then dropped before maturing, others are still hanging in there and growing..

Question: Several seed pods are very large but still very green. Can I pick them now and let them dry out?

Thanks,

Susan

Photo attached of one of my brugs that started blooming in March and produced three flushes of blooms.

wonderful... which ones are they very nice.

Twyla

How long have the pods been there? It takes several months for some to mature. It might be best if you just watch them and when they become soft and the color changes on them, you can pick and lay the seeds out to dry. Generally when the outside of the pod loses its shine, they are on the way to ripening. I have one in the house that is taking forever. I pollinated it about Oct 15, and it still isn't ready, but getting close. I'm sure it would have ripened faster had I been able to keep it outside. Your brug is very pretty. I like them big and full of blooms.

hope43, I know the names of every one of my 150+ hoya, but the brugmansia, oh....this one for sure is an unknown. I have others I know for sure, like Frosty Pink, Valley White, and Super Nova.

Brugie, the seed pods just started after the first flush of blooms in early March. Most of them have had two flushes of blooms so far. I think they are just about done until fall. Mine won't bloom in the summer. Too hot here. I get blooms Feb. - Apr. and then Nov - Dec.

So that's about 6 months now waiting for your pod to ripen?

Thanks, Susan

Gorgeous big brug you have there, Susan. What fun to have so many blooms now. I get my best flushes starting in September thru October.

I need to go visit the hoya forum. I have a few hoya friends and they just find them so much fun. At least they are smaller to horde than brugs.

I have some pods still hanging on since last August! Some just take so long it seems esp over winter.

OH - you mean you don't wait until they are brown (the pods) to pick and dry them??? OOOOOOOPS.

Carol

Beautiful brug, Susan...just beautiful!!!

Hi Carol. I pick mine at the first sign of ripeness if I catch them. Usually they start to split open as the first sign. Then I pick them. If I reach up and feel them, I can usually tell that way too before they show any sign. They feel soft and sometimes you can even get the seeds to move inside.

Thanks everyone! The idea of "wild crosses" is interesting to me. The brugs grow like weeds here. Only problem I have had is with a fuzzy leafed double white. I think it's just too warm. DH is going to dig it up and move it to a shadier area this weekend.

Also recently purchased what I was told is a "more heat tolerant" sanguinea. I just raised my eyebrows at the nursery man and slapped down my $7.99 for the gallon pot. Supposed to have coral blooms. I bet the poor thing is dead by July. I'm going to try growing it under my pear tree where it will have mostly shade. Full sun in Texas is only for hibiscus and crape myrtle.

The peachy one in the photo is a good 4 feet above my roof line. The blooms in 2004 were sparse. This year it started early in March and I've had 3 rounds of blooms.

My buddies on the hoya forum are going to have to wait a few months for those pods. If it looks like they are "going south" I'll harvest and do the best I can.

Susan