Hi all, just a quick question, it's about a few different tropicals so I thought I'd try the question here....This past year I got myself an Adendium and a Plumeria and also grew a Starfruit, all of which have gone dormant for the winter. Since they are virtualy leafless, do I need to keep them in bright light or can I move then elsewhere untill it's time to resume growth?
Thanks!
Steven
Dormant Tropicals
I'd say its perfectly fine to do that
I love Starfruit, where did you buy yours from?
Thanks for the replies everyone! I keep my plants on what doubles as workbench/ plant table so this will allow me to free up some much needed room!
Robynznest - I actualy bought the starfruit at wal-mart! I just picked the seed out and dried it for a couple weeks before planting! They're really easy from seed.
Steven
Steven,
How fast did the plant grow? Is it slow growing? I would really like to start one, but I've been concerned that it would take forever to get to fruiting size.
Thanks,
Karen
Karen, I'm not sure how long it would take to fruit, but I assume it would be less time for you since you're in a much warmer climate then I am. I have a picture around here somewhere of my first year tree, I'll post it for you..............Ok, I can't seem to find it on my pc but heres a link to my photo in the plantfiles http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/166556/ I measured him and he's almost 18" tall in less then a year.
Steven
Steven,
Wow! That's gorgeous! In just a year, that's very fast growing. I think they will fruit as small as three feet. I think I'll get a starfruit next time I see one and try that. I'm very encouraged by your success. Thank you for the info and for showing it to me.
Karen
You're most welcome Karen! It was very easy to get started, it sprouted in a styrofoam cup on a somewhat drafty windowsill. So it should be no problem at all. Who knows, maybe I'll even get some flowers/fruit!
Happy seed starting,
Steven
That's pretty neat there Steve, nice form on that tree. Thanks for telling us how you did it. I guess it's another trip to walmart for me, or maybe HiVee will have some.
Your Welcome! I hope you find the fruit, just be careful when slicing it open, cause if you slice it the usual way to get the star shape most of the seeds end up getting cut in half by the knife.
Steven
Steven,
Got my starfruit today! Thanks for the warning on the slicing. Okay, so then the best way to slice it for the seeds is maybe to slice it the long way?
Thanks,
Karen
Cutting it the long way is what I was thinking aswell.....that way most of the seeds would be spared. Keep me posted on how it goes!
Ta Ta,
Steven
Steven,
Thanks, I will.
Karen
None of the stores have any, I went to 6 different ones in 4 cities, dang. I drove 200 miles yesterday for nothing. I will just have to wait and hopeone of them will get some in sometime.
But thanks for the advive on cutting them. I will have to eat it after I get the seeds, so there's no waste. lol
You absolutely have to eat it -- they're expensive -- mine cost $2.49 -- besides they're good!
Karen
That's one of the reasons I drove so far to find them, I love them. I just wish I would have thought to start a couple of them when I did have some to get seeds from. Out here in the boondocks it's hard to find things like this. I'm also looking for pinneapple guava. Talk about a hard thing to find. I finally got papaya and pommegranite started. I will probaly end up doing with out them for a while.
Robyn I have a starfruit after I eat it I will send some seeds to you!!
OH, please Kim, I would love that. No telling when I will be able to get any. The last time I got one was two summers ago. My mouth is watering for one.
No problem :)
Thank you, you are such a sweetie.
Glad to do it......right now I am making banana bread I think I got a few seeds ..never seen them before so i'm just guessing.
Banana bread seeds cool, I definitely want some of those.
I'll take some of those too, Do they come true from seeds or will they be a varried kind?
Yes I would like some also. :)
My starfruit seeds have sprouted! I'm so excited. Since I forgot to dry the seeds like Steven said to, I was sure they wouldn't come up. However, all six did come up.
Here is a pic of them. The little guy in the back was several days behind the others, and I finally had to help him with his seed coating. LOL.
Karen
Congrats Karen!!! They look terrific!
I want to get mine growing again on the weekend, it's in the basement now completly leafless and the stem was quite brittle so I thought it might be dead and trimmed it back a bit and was pleased to find the inside of the stem is still green!
Steven
I'm hoping they will do okay once I get them in separate pots. I didn't know starfruit would go dormant. Good to hear yours is doing fine after all.
Karen
You could probably keep it growing if you have a good south faceing window with plenty of light. I had to put mine under lights in the basement so it ended up going dormant, just be sure to cut back on watering if it decides to drop it leaves.
Keep up posted on your success, they're cute little guys!
Steven :)
I don't have any good windows for light. Most of my windows are shaded by either the front deck or the back one. There is a window on the front deck (which is covered) that I clustered my plants under this last winter. I put a box fan in the open window to blow warm air outside. Then duct taped a sheet over the window and let it hang down to cover the plants on cold nights. This worked really well. So I'm thinking of building a small greenhouse in that area with PVC pipes and sheet plastic for next winter.
I couldn't believe how fast they grew once they started to come up. I'm going to put them in individual pots in the next day or so.
When yours comes out of dormancy and leafs out, please post a photo. I would love to see it.
Karen
It sounds like you have great setup there! I had a greenhouse last summer and it was so much fun to grow all my tropicals in, and they liked it too of course :) The starfruit transplants easy, and once they get outside they like alot of water.
I'll be sure to post a photo! I'll try to take one of the twigy stem too.
Steven
Steven,
Yeah, before and after pics would be fun.
Karen
I still haven't gotten a before pic, I just finished moving so theres been tons of stuff to do.... :) My Starfruit is in front of a south faceing patio door receiving direct afternoon sun....and still NOTHING! Maybe he won't leaf out untill he gets outside?
Steven
That might be, as the air inside may be too dry. On the other hand, it just may take a while for it to leaf out. If the stem and roots are still alive, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't put out new leaves.
I have a large spath lily and a white bird of paradise I was sure were gone. I checked the roots, and they were very much alive even though everything above ground was dead. Last week I noticed that both have little tiny new leaves coming up around the old crown. I'm still hoping to get life from a couple of other plants, too.
Karen
I never though of it having to do with the air, thats a good point. Guess I'll have to try extra hard to stop them from going dormant this year, my Adendium is just starting to leaf out...............it's taking forever.
I'm glad to hear your spath and white bird of paradise are coming back, I'd hate to lose plants like that, especially the white BOP. New shoots like that are always exciting :)
Steven
Steven,
That's exciting that you adendium is leafing out, albeit slowly. Those are so pretty. I had a large starfruit, but I think it's dead. I don't believe that it died from the cold. I think it got too wet after it went dormant.
I've got others that are coming back:
Night Blooming Jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum) - hardy to zone 10a
Yellow varigated lantana (Lantana camara) - hardy to zone 10a
brugmansia - hardy to ? - depends on who you ask I guess
The fellow who said, "Patience is a virtue", must have been referring to gardening. LOL.
Karen
Cestrum nocturnum and Lantana are both hardy to zone 8 (although I sometimes have trouble here with lantana coming back really slowly in the spring if we got some frost that zapped their leaves)
Plant Files says:
Cestrum nocturnum is only hardy to zone 10a: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2128/
Varigated lantana is only hardy to zone 10a: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/158862/
They both died back to the roots here. But if they are hardy to zone 8, then PF needs to be changed.
Karen
If you look up some of the other lantanas they are all hardy to zone 8, and I know there are people in colder areas than me who grow them successfully. I don't know about the variegated one, maybe it is less hardy, but the other yellow flowering variegated one that's in PF is hardy to zone 8b so I suspect yours is as well http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/66897/
The entry for Cestrum is definitely wrong then if it says zone 10, there are lots of Cestrums that are hardy to zone 9. C. nocturnum is one of the hardiest ones in that genus and I know there are people in zone 8 and maybe even some in 7b who can grow it. I know there's corroborating info out there that can be provided to provide to get that error fixed, the Lantana might be harder since there's probably less info on the hardiness of specific cultivars.