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Every cloud has a silver lining

Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 5:41 pm
by RAYWOODBRIDGE
Most of my Airampoas ( Tunillas ) have been put into hanging baskets and placed up in the roof of the cold house, this type of plants just do not fit neatly on the bench, there they can grow wherever they like.
Downwards?
This Plant is a long spined form of Airampoa ayrampo ( Tunilla soehrensii ) from Mina Capillitas Jujuy Argentina and it is always amazing how a plant with such small segments ( pads ) grows spines over 100mm ( 4in ) long.
I was reminded of this yesterday when I entered the greenhouse and felt a sharp pain (point ) in my forehead, on removing the said plant I noticed it had several flowers, every cloud has a silver lining

Re: Every cloud has a silver lining

Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 6:22 pm
by Phil_SK
Mine are in rectangular trays without gaps between so that they can't crawl down into the dark. Unfortunately, this means they grow into, and root into, each others trays and would pose identification problems if I didn't restart them every now-and-again. It was supposed to be on my list of things to do this year but didn't happen. On the plus side, I've had the best flowering of them ever and I think it's only because the plants are now so big. With the assistance of the bees, they've produced plenty of fruit, which have been dehiscing over the last week or so. They have purple linings, rather than silver!
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Re: Every cloud has a silver lining

Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 11:03 am
by RAYWOODBRIDGE
Nice Phil, beautiful colour, yes at this time of year there are lots of jobs we never quite get round to, but in the winter months in the potting shed/garage I will get most of those jobs done ready for spring.

Re: Every cloud has a silver lining

Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 7:02 am
by Mike P
Phil - have you grown any from your own seed? I have always shied away but now I am assembling a very large collection of different Tunillas I am tempted as it would be interesting to see the results of the crosses if the process was well controlled - not easy I know with such unruly plants!

Re: Every cloud has a silver lining

Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 4:58 pm
by Phil_SK
Not from the open-pollinated fruit, no. I have tried controlled crosses: last year I did a hintonii×picardoi and have 2 or 3 seedlings from this that have germinated this year. I've harvested a fruit this year of hintonii×'Fuchs'.
Following my earlier comment, I did get round to giving my plants an overhaul - I decided that I couldn't justify keeping 21 different clones, so I dustbinned 8 samey/uninspiring ones, which allowed me to pot the remainder into fairly big trays. It's an extravagant use of space but I do like them.

Re: Every cloud has a silver lining

Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 7:29 pm
by Mike P
Probably over a hundred now.......at least. I must get around to classifying them into three or four basic types as a start on the great work.

Re: Every cloud has a silver lining

Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 8:10 pm
by Phil_SK
I sometimes look at them and wonder how I'd group them and cladode shape always comes to mind first but then you try to draw a line between two shapes only to find that there are plants sat on a continuum between any pair. A tendency for us to share bits of plants that are only producing small, atypically-shaped cladodes doesn't help - you'd need to get them growing well before you'd feel confident that you were seeing their true shape.
Yes, good luck!

Re: Every cloud has a silver lining

Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2019 9:36 pm
by Mike P
I reported a lot earlier in the year and they are now housed in a much larger brighter greenhouse and have produced much larger and better spines pads than they ever did before. Most of the newly acquired ones (including the ones I got from you ) have data with then so I aim to plot their origin onto a map as part of the study.