Tropaeolum

[Steven McFarlane]

Hi

I don't think that the Tropaeolum pages have a picture of T. rhomboideum so here it is.



Steven

[Jean-Patrick AGIER]

Another tropaeolum grown this year in Lyon's BG: Tropaeolum x TENUIROSTRE. The flowers look like those of Tr TRICOLOR but the spur is smaller and the flowers are more colourful. The calyx edges fade to green when aged which is not so clear on the first pic. One flower on the up & right part of the photo shows this particularity.
J-P

[Paul T]

Glorious pics everyone.  So many wonderful species I've only ever seen in the pics on these pages.  Fantastic!!

[Paul Cumbleton]

Now (in the northern hemisphere anyway!) our tropaeolum are dormant, what do people find is the best way to treat them while dormant? Completely dry or with a little moisture? Cool or warm? I would be interested to know your experience

Thanks

Paul

[Hans J]

here are pics from my T.peregrinum ( sown in March )

Hans

[Paul T]

Wow, Hans.  The flower is amazing.  So you sowed these 3 months ago and they've already germinated and are flowering? 

[Hans J]

Paul ,

they are easy !
You can buy seeds in each gardencenter ...sowing like T.majus ( here in my room ) they grow fast and it is nessecary to give it a little help for climbing.
Later I have plantet 3 seedlings in a pot and they are quick on the roof ....

The flowers are really small  -so I'm not shure if I will sow it again in next year ....

[Maggi Young]

In mild areas T.peregrinum is perennial but here  in Scotland and in other colder places, it is mostly grown as an annual.

 

[Hans J]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropaeolum_peregrinum

Hans

[Jean-Patrick AGIER]

Now (in the northern hemisphere anyway!) our tropaeolum are dormant, what do people find is the best way to treat them while dormant? Completely dry or with a little moisture? Cool or warm? I would be interested to know your experience

Thanks

Paul

Hi Paul,
I don't think whether cool or warm would be important. I personnally offer very bad conditions to them in summer ( south-west exposure, high temperatures ). I try to protect the pots from too much warmth and sun of course. I know many others growers can offer the cooler conditions of a well exposed glasshouse or a protected part of their garden. BUT the most important point to me is not to allow the compost to be completely dry. I've read many articles and reports on this, particularly about Tr AZUREUM. If the tuber goes dry it will fall into a period of slumber from which it might be difficult to rise. The conditions in the wild must be tried to be mimicked. In Chile not all the species grow, flower and set seeds regularly. There may be a gap of 1, 2 or more years without flowers or seeds depending on the wheather conditions the tubers find. But this is not special to tropaeolum. The same happens for many summer dormant bulbs. Have you find difficulties on keeping and/ or making the tubers re-start to grow?
Talking about Tr AZUREUM here are pics of the one which grew in LYON's BG this spring. It has been grown from seed 4 years ago and have always re-sprouted since then.
Regards
J-P

[Paul T]

Hans,

At times it is truly amazing what is offered in European garden centres.    But then you guys can buy Galanthus in flower by the tray mail-order.  You're all terribly spoiled. 

[Jean-Patrick AGIER]

Tropaeolum ARGENTINUM...at last!!!
I've sown MANY seeds of this species ( from my 2008 harvest and the few ones obtained from Chiltern seeds and the exchanges ). Absolutely NO results for 8 months whatever the exposure. So I decided to try the seeds harvested on the plant I grew ( by chance... ) last year. Those seeds didn't have enough time to ripe correctly I presume because the plant was starting to wither ( October / November 2009 ). They were very bad looking ( very thin & small not like the "plump" seeds I've sown previously ) so I doubted they could have any germination potential and didn't dare to offer them through the exchanges. 5 days ago I decided to try to sow them. 3 seedlings have appeared!!
This leads me to the very surprising conclusion that even the worst looking seeds can bring good surprises...
Have I triggered by chance their germination? Have Tr ARGENTINUM seeds a limited viability?
I would be most interested in reports from other Tropaeolum growers.
J-P

[Steven McFarlane]

Hi Jean-Patrick

Good news!  I hope that your plants have time to flower and produce seeds.

My argentinum have grown and flowered well



Tried to escape from my little greenhouse



Attracted the local insects



And started to produce seed



So lets hope for enough to continue our search for an easier way to produce germination.

Steven

[Jean-Patrick AGIER]

Another Tropaeolum ( of the Polyphyllum group ) which hasn't been discussed a lot in this topic: Tr INCISUM. This year for the first time ever it flowered for me. A "kind of magic"! Hope it's not the last...The plant grew well upright and not trailing ( which seems quite strange to me ) and had just the time to flower before beeing caught by the heat wawe in June. Sadly no seed produced. Many thanks to Susan BAND who provided top quality tubers!

[Jean-Patrick AGIER]

Tropaeolum MORITZIANUM has been grown successfully in a glasshouse of LYON's BG. Many seeds have been collected and kept in the BG seed bank. I've kept a few for my own use and think I can offer them to some of the Tropaeolum enthusiasts of this forum who would like to grow it. As I previously wrote, this is a rewarding  annual species which deserves to be more widespread. So that anyone in the future could easily ask for it.
Many thanks -again-to Steven whose generosity made it possible.
Only a few seeds for the 10 first requests.
So...
Jean-Patrick