What the fuss is all about !!!

OK this does not look like much but it will in the future. This is a Colocasia seedling about 1 to 2 inches tall. After reviewing my numbers I found I was way off on how many new hybrids I would have. After adding it up again I figure I will have 54,000 seedings give or take a few thousand. If all grow well which I hope I should have a field planted out about 108 feet wide and 100 feet long of new stuff. I will probably break it down into 4 fields and keep similar crosses near each other.

The seedling in the picture is non other than Gigantea crossed with the hardy Pink China.

Here is another seedling same hybrid as above. You can already see some pink coloration on the stems. The leaves will not start looking aroidish for at least 1 or 3 more months. Then small heart shaped leaves will form.

I had to add a lot to my greenhouse for all the trays of seedlings. 4 new shelfs are now being put in with heating cables to keep them warm. This has already been a ton of work and I am sure it will take a lot more. I am hoping they do not take to much room up so I can still have a good selection come spring. So far with the new shelfs it looks good but as they grow they will be getting priority. Here is a pic of what I am talking about.

Looks like alot of work, but exciting to see them grow and to see what your crosses become.

Well done Brian
this is better than discovery chanel

If I moved a little closer to you could I work in your GH? I would do it for free, just for the fun of it and for the knowledge and training.

LOL 2 pugdogs that would be great. I also have two pugs and I am sure they would like running around a bit. I don't mind paying for good help its just finding it is hard sometimes. It seems no one is interested in picking weeds these days.

Well Brian thanks for putting my addiction in perspective...compared to you I am all still in the early stages of this mad obsession...aroidmania.

ROX

How VERY exciting, Brian. I'm with Celt & 2pugdogs, and I agree good help is hard to find. Keep us posted on this new "Pink Chigantea". Thanks for posting the pics, too.

Thanks for all comments I enjoy sharing my addition with others.

I thought I would add this photo. I think I am going in dept trying to grow all these seeds out. I had to put in new shelves in the greenhouse just for the trays with heating cables to keep them extra warm.

Here is a photo of one side of the greenhouse. I still have another greenhouse to add the shelves to but will have to wait till funds roll in.

I HATE you! ;)

I wish *I* had had a greenhouse.

Someday!

Tom

LOL well the greenhouses are great its eating Rarmen noodles that gets old. lol

Brian,
If it's not giving away your secrets i'd be interested to know how do you go about selling them once they are a big enough. And what could you expect as a wholesale price for them. Do you go through a broker like cut flowers or do you deal directly with a seller like Home Depot.
Well done for finding your career in something you love.
Neil

Nice use of space, looks like not an inch going to waste. Alternate the noodles with generic mac & cheese and tuna (generic of course). A college student friend of my son mixes in peanut butter and terriyaki sauce with Ramen- Drew said it's pretty good! Oh, Brian, sacrifices must be made... Yes, how will you market these youngins' and how many will you keep to grow out? (Certainly, you will offer some up to your DG friends ; ) ; ) ; )

lol your grhouse looks like mine right now...all this stuff shoved in there (well, yours might have more order to it!) until I can figure out what to do with it all-what I can/want to take cuttings of, what I want to go dormant, what i want to repot into larger pots, etc.

What really caught my eye was the high up shelf that you built, that you had some flats on. I wish I could put a shelf up that high, where the plants on the lower shelf aren't shaded by the higher shelf. Problem is that the high shelf dries out so fast, and it looks like it would be hard to see the pots to water them. I need a few more grhouses......

Heres a picture of one of my grhouses right now. I didn't even have time to spray roundup before we had to start bringing them in.

Looks very similar to what mine looked like a year or two ago. As for the high shelf I bought me one of those small stepping stools to get up on to check the plants. All the trays up on that have no holes so they are full of water their is also a heating cord under the trays that stays at 100f so the seedlings sprout easy. With the tops on the trays I rarely have to check the for drying out. Putting in the mist system was one of the best things I think I ever did. I rarely water in the greenhouse and in most cases when I walk into the greenhouse it is actually full of fog were you cannot see the other end. I think this is manly due to the cement floors which are heated to 70f the water is constantly evaporating off it and makeing the greenhouse into a cloud forest. The aroids and epiphytes love it.

Brian, it's been over a week since you posted pics of your seedlings, how tall are they now?

Hello All!!! New to this particular forum...can I just say "I think I'm in trouble"...what great looking plants!!

Here are a few photos of the seedlings moving along. They are still very small and are looking a lot more like EEs. Not a huge difference in coloration yet but I am sure I will be able to tell some differences once they start getting bigger.

I have had a odd rate of sprouting some trays fully sprouted out others just a few here and their and some with nothing to report yet. It should be interesting to see what comes of it all and some of these hybrids should be very very intresting to us all. I am sure next seasons photos will show some interesting results.

Keeping the seeds at the right temps and moisture levels has been a bit difficult considering it is now winter. This is not the best time to be sprouting tons of seeds but as far as I know the seeds do not have a long shelf life so the sooner I plant them the better off they are. As you can see in this photos some cells have a few sprouted and growing while others seem to have nothing up yet. I hope this will be changing in the next few months.

Wow! I am in Awe!

Looks like some of y'all are professional growers! What in the world do you do with all those plants? Do you sell on e-bay as I've seen some folks do? Or, do you sell to nurseries? Just curious! I thought I had a lot of plants to take care of with just my normal houseplants, I can't imagine an operation that size! LOL. You've got a business in the making there!

Lin

Well it is my lifely hood and I am sure thats about all I can say here on the forums. I am a bit different than most places I am truely a hobbiest gone mad. This hybrid work goes to show I am different than most. I am trying hard to breed new colorful huge and possibly hardy Colocasias. I have found that with my breeding as with most stuff I do I am very shelfish as I do not breed what others are looking for but I breed what I want and what I can use or find interesting. I am sure tons others will find what I like interesting as well. The large companys are usually looking for large flowering dwarf stuff and I am usually on the other end of the spectrum as far as personal taste goes. I do work a bit with the dwarf things but in most cases it tends to be larger and more bold looking is what I like. I enjoy when someone walks into the garden and is stunned by the size shape and colors of something.

The difference is clear when you see a small colorful elephant ear and say oh how cool and cute. Then when you walk under a huge coloful elephant ear and say holy sh** is this thing even real. If all goes will I should be hearing the last expression more often. LOL

The term "Hobbyist Gone Mad" sure is appropiate for you! LOL. Can't wait to see photo's of your grown up plants in the Spring!

Lin

Here are a few photos of my F1 hybrids with Colocasia pink china and Colocasia Black Magic. I have had some interesting results from the breeding. Everything from dark stems to to black or purple plants and solid green forms as well.

This form labled PC X BM 2005 hybrid #2

This is one of the more interesting forms from my breeding. It has a bit of a blue cast to the leaf with darker purple veins. It can get very dark in full sun much like Black magic will get darker in full sun. This form is being test for hardiness this season outside here in zone6.

This is from the same cross but a different seedling. It is much darker in color and has dark stems. I believe it maybe even darker than black magic but I was only able to compare this season. I am hoping that this form may also prove to be hardy for zone6 as well

This is also from the same seed pod but a sperate seedling. It has pink stems light green leaves and distinct darker veins. I am hoping as it matures that the veins will keep a very dark look as the leaf gets lighter in full sun.

Amazing! I thought these were Tropical's and only grew down here in the far South!

Love the coloration in that Hybrid #2

Lin

This also a seedling from the same cross. Has the dark stems which can be found in many forms. I am not sure if this one will have the potential to be released but it does have a very thick strong leaf which maybe very useful in my breeding and I will hopefully be able to back cross with this form to get some nice results.

Well that is usually the case most Colocasias are considered zone7 or higher. I was the first person to test and bring the form Pink China to the market. It was collected by a friend of mine in china and had noticeable pink stems. I threw the name to it and added it to my collection. After a few years of growing I noticed it was much tougher than all other forms I had worked with. It is possible one of the toughest hardy tropical plants in the world. Breeding with it should create some interesting and possibly cold tolerant offsprings.

I still did end up with many green leaf pink stem seedlings that look almost identical to the mother plant. Still a few like this one shows a bit brighter lime green look than most.
I should have a few photos of my big dipper crosses later this winter they are still young but growing good.

Thank's for the update Brian.
If you ever want to send a tray down to florida for the winter , I can put them under the side of the house its just like greenhouse conditions in the winter.
Neil

Neil you have no idea how many have offered to help grow them out LOL. I should be fine with them for the next season or so I am sure I will be flooding the the group with photos as they start maturing. I really have so much I should be showing as far as new hybrids and have not even started on them yet. Many forms of cannas and aroids I have not named yet and have just started getting them large enough to release next season or so. At the moment I am trying to get thousands of photos in order which is a giant mess. I think it would be much easier but its hard making folders and remembering plants when they have no real name just numbers or nick names for me to remember till I can get something solid with them.

Thanks for the update Brian. Looks like your experiments are going well. How many years have you been doing this?

I have your hybrid Alocasia B Williams but don't remember which cross produced it, seems like Amazonica and something.

Brian-
I really like the lime green variant. X. Lime Zinger is beautiful and a great seller, so I think this would market really well.
The light green with the darker veins is also very interesting.

ROX

Rox I will be watching both of these forms closely and posting pics as they mature. As for how long I have been growing plants and breeding. 16 years I have been growing plants and in the last 4 years I have been breeding them. The alocasia Brian Williams is a hybrid with Macorrhiza and amazonica. How has it grown for you?

It did ok, but I think I had it in the wrong place. It was in almost total shade in a very dry spot. I dug it and potted it in the gh, next year I'll put it where it gets more light and moisture. I have very little sun and the spot that gets most only gets about 2 hrs in the middle of the day.

I have seen were it would be hardy in your area Rox but for it to look really nice and colorful it needs a lot of sun and moist soil in the summer. I have mine in full sun and they did amazing. But I have heard they do not do to well in southern Florida were it gets really hot.

Here are a few more shots of the seedlings growing

It seems the big dipper hybrids and the pink china hybrids are the first ones up and growing.