Meconopsis punicea

[johnw]

Some Meconopsis punicea raised from seed from Arisaema in Norway in autumn 2009.

No wonder I've been unsuccessful to date, I've been planting Meconopsis punicea seed.

I've never had a single seed sprout and have received fresh seed from Tromso too.  Yours are magical Tony. Congrats.

johnw

[Lesley Cox]

I've only ever had germination from my own harvested seed, from a plant which I bought in the first place (long gone now). If sown fresh it germinates 8 months later in the first and second week of August. Consistently. So early spring. I've never had one germinate from an Arisaema though.

[Susan Band]

Here it germinates beginning of Feb every year. I haven't noted the exact date but I am pretty sure it would be within the same week every year. If you don't have fresh seed it might wait another year but will still germinate that week. That is the mystery of seed. I wonder if yours Lesley is exactly 6 months different.

[Lesley Cox]

Well yes it is Susan, your Feb is my August. For 4 years I noted in my book that it started on August 8th but this last year it was on the 6th.

[Susan Band]

Day length must be the answer, so many days to germination after the shortest day. I know some vegetables respond to day length.
susan

[Johan Nilson]

So very nice to see your images. Thanks! There is still a couple of weeks before the puniceas will flower here.

Ian,
Your perenial form looks very interesting. For how many years have you had it?

Hi Tetsuo, we have only ever heard of this one perennial M. punicea which is not as good a red as your pictures. I am sure that other perennil forms do occur in the wild but have no chance to go back to to Stone mountain perhaps one day,  cheers Ian the Christie kind.

I know that Peter Korn in Sweden used to grow a perennial form of punicea. This form had also more petals then then the usual ones. If I remember it right it had the same beautiful red colors as the beautiful ones Tetsuo showed . I dont know if he is still gowing it. I hope that he does!

[ichristie]

 Hi all, sorry for such a long delay with a reply but we have been very busy with everything. The M. punicea perennial first flowered in 2005 and is almost about to flower now so will post some pictures soonest. The plant is different to the usual form as it produced runners which I detach in early April these may only have two or three leaves but have all grown well it also produces seed without any hand pollination not all the seedling become perennial anyway pictures soon,  cheere Ian the Christie kind.

[Roma]

i only had one Meconopsis punicea last year and though I got seed it did not look big enough or plump enough to be viable so instead of sending any to the exchanges I sowed the lot and now have 88 seedlings!!!!

[Brian Ellis]

I sowed the lot and now have 88 seedlings!!!!

Wow!  That will be a picture when they flower.

[gote]

i only had one Meconopsis punicea last year and though I got seed it did not look big enough or plump enough to be viable so instead of sending any to the exchanges I sowed the lot and now have 88 seedlings!!!!

How did you treat them to make them germinate so quickly? They sometimes wait until the second spring. Sow immediately? how many warm months did you have between sowing and winter?
Göte

[Roma]

[How did you treat them to make them germinate so quickly? They sometimes wait until the second spring. Sow immediately? how many warm months did you have between sowing and winter?
Göte

The seed was sown fresh in July and germinated in February.  As far as I remember the weather did not get really cold till late November when we had snow and the temperature dropped very suddenly.  The pot was in a closed cold frame with snow cover for about 5 or 6 weeks.

[gote]

Thank you.
It was as I thought then. They had a sufficient long period in reasonably warm soil before the winter set in.
It means that in my climate, where the seeds are ripe later and winter sets in earlier I should sow immediately and keep them out of the cold unitil Chrismas or so.
I will try to remember 
Göte

[angie]

Hi James

I was just talking this morning about trying to multiply my plants so it was good to hear how you multiply your plants. I was lucky enough to get some plants from Maureen Wilson ( a good grower of punicea ) and am delighted with them.
When you say Punicea is one of the easiest to grow in the east of Scotland that is good news to my ears.
As for the spelling who cares, I make more spelling mistakes than most people do. I blame this iPad, it changes my words.
Anyway nice that you have joined us here. Looking forward to see some lovely pictures of your M.punicea soon.

Angie

[tetsuo]

Hello
I sow the seeds of M.punicea in two ways.
First way is to sow as soon as possible when it is ripe in June or July .
Second way is to sow in December after keeping them in a little wet condition.
They can germinate in both ways . But the percentage of germination is much better
in the first way.
   Tetsuo

[jomowi]

To add a few comments on growing M. punicea, but not repeat the findings of others:

The pollen is brown, so if your paintbrush is brown you might not spot it.  Hand pollinating needs to be carried out daily.  The amount of pollen can vary according to the age of the flower and weather conditions on any particular day.

Viable seed is big by comparison with M. betonicifolia - more the size of M. ‘Lingholm’.  However, if you scatter the cleanings, you may get the odd plant come up as a ‘self’ sown seedling which will go on to flower.  Sown as soon as harvested, they are one of the first to germinate in February.

After pricking out, keep them closely covered in warmth and humidity until re-established, then wean them off to cooler and open conditions gradually. They can be planted into the ground direct from 5cm cells in late summer, the closer the better for a good display. i.e. treat them like bedding plants.  Done this way, it is admittedly labour intensive, but is the best way to maintain a good genetic diversity.