32 replies to this topic

[planthelper]

i grew hoodias from seed a couple of times before, but this time, i planted out two different sourced seeds, and none came up.
i have even copied what i did last time to germ them, but nothing...

it's soo frustrating, specialy if it's expensive seed, and you planted out in quantity.

i pre soacked 1/3 of the seeds, but even this group did not germ. those seeds fell to the bottom of the glass of water after 24h, and than were planted out, temps were high.

i will try again, keeping the seeds, less watered and in a cooler aspect.

any, input is appreciated, as i wanted to make hoodia, my new catha edulis....

Edited by planthelper, 11 January 2012 - 09:24 AM.

[faslimy]

Do you monitor the temperature?

[quarterflesh]

im not having much luck growing these either, id love to here opinions

[zelly]

I have just the opposite problem....mine flower profusely but have yet to set seeds.

Branch cuts take around 1 yr to grow roots.


 hoodias9293.jpg   951.45K   14 downloads

[planthelper]

I have just the opposite problem....mine flower profusely but have yet to set seeds.

Branch cuts take around 1 yr to grow roots.


 hoodias9293.jpg   951.45K   14 downloads

nice one!

yep i agree, it's possible to grow them by cuttings.
i graft them on stapelia, because it stopps them from rotting. i mean, the get immune to over watering like that.

temp wasn't monitored, but i tried two different temps, outdoors and with the aid of a hot box.

i might extend this topic, to a more general hoodia discussion, and hopefully will post some of my new and maybe old pic's.

[faslimy]

Pollinating Hoodia is a very involved and tricky task. When I grew Hoodia in NZ I let the flies come into the glasshouse and they pollinated the Hoodias. Always grew the seed in the same conditions as cactus seed: diffused light, approx 28C, humid, with cooler night temperatures. They're very fast growing.

[planthelper]

update!

i sowed out one of the two sources, and got so far ~20% germination! proly get germination with source 2 aswell, let's hope so.

i assume, the temperature in my previous attempt was too high.
this time aswell, i sowed them out into small individual pots, and not into small punnets.
i guess the small individual pots contain more potting mix, per seed and don't dry out as fast after watering, as the punett.
what, i mean is, that those seeds obviously don't want to be stressed out too much.

the seeds were sown outdoors, but under a verandah, no bottom heat, no dome.
the polarisation of the seed is, plant with the sharp end downwards, ~5mm deep.
i sieved the toplayer of potting mix.
one emerging seedling had still the endocarp wrapped on it's head, so i just, hilled up some potting mix around this just emerging seedling, and 24h later the endocarp had fallen off, by itselfe. so no surgery needed!

i searched the web a lot, around hoodia, and one mature specimen can weight up to 30kg, so the professionals say.

Edited by planthelper, 09 November 2011 - 10:08 AM.

[planthelper]

hi!
i will make that a more general hoodia thread.

first a pic of a young hoodia which turned, albino for a while, now the very same specimen turned green again.

 K1CF4CE7DB_1000016hoodia white cap.JPG   486.08K   11 downloads

this photo, shows two hoodia diseases, the left one was fatal (note the black vascular core bundles!)
the one on the right, is a black spot disease which stayed on the surface, and the plant did re grow.
i grafted both tips, which i had cut off, onto stapelias, the black spot one, does grow well, the black vascular one, is a bit slow...

 K1CF4CE7DB_1000024hodia disease.JPG   528.93K   11 downloads

i pretty much have stopped watering all my hoodias, and since than, i had less problems with them. i know they can grow quite fast, but if you water them, too much they, often start rotting.
i graft them a lot onto stapelia, and water those ones a lot, and they grow fast.
more pic's to come!

[planthelper]

today, i moved some young hoodia seedlings, from the probagation tray, into small individual pots, and noticed, that all those hoodias had very long tap roots already, compared to what happend above ground.

so from now onwards, i will try to give some of my hoodias very generous root space!
but as we know, at times, keeping succulents within, too large pots, is problamatic.

i have hopes of planting some of them out into the ground, protected, if needed from too much rain, by a irrigation hose plastic sheeting glasshouse. i get monsunal rains here, so plan to dig some drainage channels aswell, to protect the chosen, slighly beveled aspect.

[2Deep2Handle]

cant remember where your located plant helper, but keep in mind the whole east coast is meant to be in for a very wet summer, so abstain from grounding anything in the elements this season if possible.(coming out of a la nina, so tropical wet season is coming)

Very interesting thread.

You would think being a cacti it would want bottom heat to germ!

[planthelper]

cant remember where your located plant helper, but keep in mind the whole east coast is meant to be in for a very wet summer, so abstain from grounding anything in the elements this season if possible.(coming out of a la nina, so tropical wet season is coming)

Very interesting thread.

You would think being a cacti it would want bottom heat to germ!

i will invest only one or two plants into the ground than.
i tried bottom heat a few times with them, most of the time, i had better germ rates, using no additional heat, but it's hot at my place anyway in summer...

type hoodia into the gallery search engine, here is my old pic (haven't got those plants anymore).
 med_gallery_70_3_340043.jpg   74.5K   13 downloads

Edited by planthelper, 08 December 2011 - 09:55 AM.

[planthelper]

i'm excited so i have to tell, i just ordered 1000 gordonii seeds from germany!

btw, the people from the biosecurity are a friendly bunch.
let's hope all goes well.

[planthelper]

even more excited, the seeds arrived yesterday, and i planted out several hundreds already.

hoodia seeds come in two different ways, the dark and well filled out seeds, and some, often paler, and empty (not filled out seeds). so i divided some of the seeds into, those two groups, so to find out if the "empty" looking, shriveled up seeds, will germinate aswell, or, if only "fat" seeds will germinate.

let's hope i get good germination rates tthis time.

[Stillman]

Interesting plant i think we have one up the back garden, what are you planning on doing with so many, I read somewhere it is used by bushman as an appetite suppressant?

[watertrade]

Mine have been flowering for the last few months. and today I noticed two seed pods! from memory they will take ages to ripen.

[planthelper]

great hoodia shots, and a pretty damm good, hand modelling job there aswell, there!

those are the 1st pic's for me ever, seeing oz grown hoodia seed capsuls, thank you, for my feelings of jealousness.

10. jan, sowed out several hundreds of seeds.
12. jan, at morning time, some seedlings were already sprouting!!!
now, i got heaps of seedlings emerging, viabilety is high!!!

the result of the trial, skinny and pale, seeds vs fat and dark ones, is in,.....no surprise there, most fat ones came up already, but zero of the skinny ones.

having a larger ammount of plants to work with, will make it possible now to, try to push them a bit harder, regarding growth rate,
in other words, i don't care so much, if i loose some to over watering.

i wonder if hoodia could be used rectaly, and if, maybe there is, even traditional evidence for it.
i mean, it looks like,"natures own suppository", and the core is supposed to be the most active part....
heat treat or peel, and than it's ready to use, maybe even ingestion is unnecessary, hehehe.

[planthelper]

hi!

a pic of a hoodia seedling with 3 cotyledons!!!
some members here think 3 cotyledons means hetrozygot, but i think, the genes are the same, regardless of the nummber of cotyledons. but inform me if it's special.
 K1CF4E7C71_1000169hoodia3.JPG   473.79K   5 downloads

an albino hoodia seedling.

 K1CF4E7C71_1000162hoodia albino.JPG   770.95K   3 downloads

[watertrade]

an update on my seed pots. they are huge!
I included my hand for scale. Amazonian once said I had the hands of a 12 year old computer programer so take that into consideration.

[zelly]

Watertrade, what did you do to get yours to set seed? Sounds like its happened more than once?

Awesome pics, thanks! At least I know what to look for should mine ever decide to set seed.

[Chef]

awsome looking flower pods and flowers!

[watertrade]

Zelly, I don't know what I did, nothing specific thats for sure I think it does have something to do with a large root zone though. all my hoodia with a large root zone do well.

6 weeks after the seed pod started growing they have popped! there is no wind in my greenhouse so the seeds stayed on the plant which was helpful.

[planthelper]

wau!

very nice photos, the best hoodia pics, i'v ever seen on the net.
so they flower and set seeds even in a shade house, good to know (some plants need full sun to flower).

[applesnail]

WOW there cosmic fluff balls of mystical intricacy yr holding in yr hand amazing! i dont know much about hoodia so i was amazed to see these pics!

[watertrade]

Thanks guys

although they are in a shadehouse now - the shade cloth was a recent addition. up until a few weeks ago that greenhouse was bright, hot and dry. I have found Hoodia do grow better under shadecloth though. I have some others which are under 80% shadecloth and they are doing well.

[planthelper]

you know, not many people grow hoodia, that's why we get not a lot of feedback from other growers...

hoodia is said to help, against obesity, but i just like the plant.

young seedlings, they come up fast (3 to 4 day's)  SAM_0945_Converted.JPG   1.35MB   20 downloads
some more hoodia's.  SAM_0944_Converted.JPG   1.2MB   19 downloads

imagen, no overweight people. but i grow it because, i hope no one will make it ever illegal to grow.
it's said to be a real tonicum.

Edited by planthelper, 26 March 2012 - 12:56 PM.