Ruud Kleinpaste: Reproduction

Spent some time looking at Julie’s wonderful display of bright pink Cyclamen – they are flowering beautifully – such an old-fashioned plant… (my mother had them in pots outside, all those years ago)

But those Cyclamen Coum have not always been in the large pot in which the Cumquat grows its small bright-yellow/orange citrus fruits; It was one of those experimental accidents that seems to be the result of Julie’s arty Green thumbs.

A few years ago, she put a small pot with Cyclamen under that cumquat; it started flowering pretty pink and produced seeds – lots of seeds.  The idea is to let the seeds develop and fall onto the soil in winter – in the following autumn they’ll produce heaps of small Cyclamen and the soil is covered in a matter of a few years.

Partial shade is the preferred spot – that means you can grow these plants under trees in the garden (not necessarily in pots). They will go dormant in spring – leaves drop off and the plants stay dormant all summer. The cycle starts again in Autumn.

Light (liquid) fertiliser - every now and then – will be great.

Another way to get Cyclamen to reproduce is by lifting the tubers in late summer/Autumn and dividing them before replanting those underground tubers. Division of the tubers results in all offspring being very much the same (colour, size, etc)

But – of course – it’s very satisfying to find the right spot and conditions that allow these plants to go nuts – and more nuts they go, the better it looks.

Another way to look at seeds and their variability in development is when you start playing with a plant species through cross-pollination.

Dahlias are a perfect example of a plant you can muck around with; all you need is a brush! (or a very well-trained pollinator, such as an obedient honey bee)

Imagine taking pollen from a red-coloured Dahlia flower and transporting that (with your brush) to a yellow flower of the same cultivar… (or even a different cultivar – what the heck!).

A cross pollination like that can sometimes yield a completely new colour morph or a new variety!

This is the kind of gig that professional plant-breeders are into.

In New Zealand our Famous Dahlia breeder is Keith Hammett. He created soooo many new varieties! … and every year he has sooo many seeds left to propagate – he simply runs out of time and space.

This year he –once again– teamed up with the New Zealand Gardener:

You can get some of Keith’s seeds and propagate those yourself; (get in touch with NZ Gardener)

Imagine growing a variety that has never been seen before – Just name it yourself and propagate it by growing the tuber every year.

You know how to do it!

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