Ferns, how can they be so complicated?
I've bought some seed (spores) for a black New Zealand Tree fern (Cyathea Medullaris), and just at the moment I'm slightly boggling at the complexity of the germination procedure.The seedsman who sold me the seeds/spores very kindly included a germination guide with the item, this is only two pages of A5, 8 point type. The level of aseptic technique apparently required is in the realms of that which I had to use in the days when I was a medical technician handling dangerous pathogens and radioactive materials.
I can quite see how these methods might be necessary, ferns, after all, produce spores by the million, and I have absolutely no idea how many spores I have purchased, or what their germination rate is.
So, next weeks fun and games will involve sieving compost and sand (the instructions even say what gauge of sieve to use). I don't have a microwave, so I can't nuke the growing medium as instructed, I'll have to use plan B which involves lots of boiling water.
Still, if it all works out, I'll have lots of little ferns hardy to -4 degrees apparently, so they can live outside with the olives and the citrus.
I'm having a citrus overhaul at the moment, I've repotted my tahiti lime, and it is very happy and covered in flowers. Next up will be the variegated lemon and the limequat, both of which are looking a bit stressed. It has been very dry and not hugely sunny so I'm not especially surprised.
The plant that's most happy at the moment is my grapevine, which is covered in fruit, let's hope we don't have a wet september, or they'll all pop.
posted by Lampy @ 7/22/2005 10:38:00 pm
8 Comments:
It makes one wonder how the ferns manage on their own in the wild, with no microwave or sieve to get them going.
Please tell more about your citrus exploits. What you have, how you got them, do they come in for winter, do they fruit. I have an idea that citrus fruits could do well here in Norway during the long hot sunny days in the Summer, would guess that they would need to be in the warmth in the winter though
I have seven citrus, all but the buddha's hand live out through the winter. What citrus need to make them happy is light, I suspect that the long winters would be a bit of a problem. There are varieties that can survive down to -20 but the fruit is decidedly inferior. I'll do some research and get back to you.
You could change your template so that the date as well as the time appears with the comment. 27.7.05
So I can : )
If you are interested in Citrus, it is worth taking a look at:
http://www.citruscentre.co.uk/
they are both nice and informative, and they have the biggest range of Citrus that I know of in the UK. I have to confess that I look up my own plants for info whenever I need to check something. Not the cheapest in the land, but their plants are good.
Thanks for that,
I will read at my leisure. Will have to see if they will ship to Norway, I know you are allowed to import plants, maybe just have to wait until the next time we are in the UK with a car.
Poncirus Trifoliata would do you. OK down to -20, bears orange like fruit, suitable only for cooking. There's one on eBay (uk) at the moment for £3.00
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