Mauka (mirabilis expansa) I received 3 mauka varieties recently. I already grew the mauka blanca variety a few years ago, but i lost it. This time i really want to try and grow them with more success. My idea eventually is to get them to make seeds and to try and grow them from seed. If i can manage to get 2 varieties to flower and set seed at the same time there might be a chance of cross-pollination. From what i read mauka grows true to type, meaning seeds of the white mauka will always make identical white plants. The only way of creating new varieties therefore is to try and cross them.


Mauka blanca cuttings




















Mauka roja cuttings








Mauka cipotato. This variety was grown from seed by Frank van Keirsbilck from Belgium. The cutting is not looking so great. I hope it will pull through and grow.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 Avocado. My mexicola avocado is looking so bad now that i am starting to doubt whether it will grow back. It could always in theory sprout back up from the roots though and that's what i am kind of hoping for. If that happens i will probably cut everything off except the new shoot. I have a second smaller plant outside that looks in much better shape. It is a fantastic seedling so that might be why. To me, which might make some people laugh, it looks really good right now compared to the mexicola. fantastic seedling that up to now survived the winter quite well. Notice the green petioles of the brown leaves. This tree if no further catastrophe happens will surely grow again. And now here comes the mexicola: this is not looking good... It will be interesting to see if it grows back from anywhere above ground, from the roots or not at all.
Read more
Image
 Avocado frost damage! My mexicola avocado got quite heavily damaged by frost as it has been very cold here recently. I decided to put some frost vlies over it. I hope it will survive this winter and grow again next year. I am trying to find out when young mexicola seedlings might start to flower and if there is any techniques to speed up flowering and fruit production. mexicola tree damaged by frost. The young tree is about 1.2 meters high. a close up of the top of the tree
Read more
Image
 Potato onions. I harvested my potato onions. I had about 6 to 7 hundred plants. After an initial rough culling i was left with 330 onions. My selection method is to favour the ones that didn't divide in their first year of growth. I don't know for sure if this is really that important but i just have this idea in my head that if i was to replant a potato onion that already divided in its first year chances are that it will divide once in the second growing season and then a second time, giving me onions with skins in the middle. A big heap of useless onions that i culled. Picture of the onions that made it through the first culling. The ones i decided to keep were already taken out. Potato onions selected for replanting next year. All of these didn't or almost didn't divide. Some more that i will keep and replant. The divisions here were noticeable under the skin but size was good with one large red one that clearly divided itself but was very big so i will replant it ...
Read more