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[nicoty]

So I visited the Glasgow Botanic Gardens yesterday. I wanted to get some Mimosa tenuiflora seeds but I couldn't find any specimens of the sort and I'm not sure if they had any. I did manage to get some Mimosa pudica seed pods though which I will be planting later on. We used to have them growing wild in our garden back in the Philippines and I have fond memories as a kid of looking for unfolded leaves to touch to cause them to close.

I joined the site because I'm interested in obtaining and growing Mimosa tenuiflora seeds, especially the inermis variety. To that end, I'm planning to obtain seeds from the "herbalistics" website and would like some advice on whether or not they're a reputable source and if the seeds they offer are genuine, or if I should just obtain said seeds from elsewhere.

I'm also interested in obtaining Phalaris aquatica var. AQ1 rhizome or live plant, or maybe some Phalaris brachystachys seeds if anyone has any available (willing to pay if the price is reasonable) which I reckon would grow well here in the UK. There are two listings on eBay for the former, but I'm not sure if those are genuine and so I'd appreciate any advice about them, or advice about obtaining and growing plants in the UK in general. Thanks!

[nicoty]

I bought M. tenuiflora var. inermis (not sure if it really is a variety or just a form) and P. brachystachys seeds on the 19th from Arkham's Botanical and they arrived 3 days later. I read that the ideal sowing season for them are late winter to mid-spring (apparently it might be hard to overwinter them), so I've decided not to sow them until then.

I was still curious on whether or not I would've been able to germinate plants from seed in this current season and keep them alive over winter, so I planted two of the M. pudica seeds yesterday in some peat that my neighbours were kind enough to share with me and they have already grown 1 inch roots. Hopefully they will grow some shoots soon.

Today, I bought some Lophophora williamsii var. Big Bend and Echinopsis lageniformis (syn. Trichocereus bridgesii) var. Psych0 x Kai seeds from the same vendor which I plan to sow come late winter as well. Hopefully all the seeds I bought would still be able to germinate successfully by then. Or maybe should I plant them ASAP?

[arborescent]

Hi nicoty! Definitely most plants can be started indoors so long as you can maintain the environmental conditions in your house. For most plants that's some kind of light, temperature, or humidity specificity.

Mimosa tenuiflora likes bright lights and warm temps, but in my experience grows very quickly, so with proper conditions your seedling could grow 2 feet in 4 months. So that's pretty tough to keep as a houseplant unless you have a good bright room to keep it. Lower light would make it grow slower but it would want to stretch for light then anyway, not great for space. I'm not sure how it does in the cold, but I think you'd do well to try and germinate it near the end of winter and baby the seedling for a few months so when the cold lifts you have a decent sapling to put outside.

I've never grown M. pudica but it looks like a good candidate to start one indoors and see if it does well.

I've kept Trichocereus seedlings on a windowsill over winter with good results. Start them in a container with a lid with some air holes (they like warmth when young), and acclimate them once they have say 5-8 rows of spikes by taking off the lid little by little. Once acclimated they don't have a problem sitting by the window, I don't think it goes below 50F, but very low humidity. I would imagine Big Bend Lophophora to do well too.
They don't grow very quickly in the cool, but don't seem harmed either.

Phalaris brachystachys is an odd one. I just started growing it and I'm planning to keep it over winter by a window. I've heard P. aquatica doesn't take well to LED light so perhaps this doesn't either? The leaf shape doesn't seem conducive to light from straight above for one thing.

You might want to keep an eye out for Psychotria nexus, I have been loving this plant as it seems well suited to be a houseplant. It doesn't grow too quickly/relatively compact. It tolerates cool temperatures and even light freezes, and low humidity. It can be propagated by portions of leaf in soil.
It's a bit rare right now, but is available in the US and AUS. I'm sure it could find its way to the UK too. Perhaps someone in NL has it?
Once it continues to circulate I think it'll stick around because it's really hardy. I've tried to grow P. viridis in my cold climate and it's impossible.

[nicoty]

Hi arborescent. That plants can be started indoors with the right conditions is good to know. Unfortunately, I don't possess any grow lights and we use dehumidifiers to prevent mould and mildew growth in the house and to dry our clothes, so I reckon I'll have to transfer my non-cacti plants outside when they're ready and winter has finished.

I plan to prune the Mimosas' shoots' tips (and probably the Phalaris' too) after they first flower to prevent them from getting too tall and to promote branching.

The M. pudica seedlings seem to be doing pretty good.

I've also heard that the cacti I bought were hardy as long as they're properly acclimated. I'm not too surprised to hear it, what with E. lageniformis being native to the Andes and the L. williamsii variety being able to survive in the Big Bend National Park, both of which reach quite cold temperatures from what I've read, but it's definitely promising to know. I appreciate your advice in germinating the former and will definitely put it into practice when I sow its seeds.

FWIW, my long-term plan for the cacti is to graft some of the L. williamsii on to some of the E. lageniformis once I have a few suitable candidates so that I can grow the former a little quicker and so that I can compare grafted and non-grafted L. williamsii with each other. I've still got a ways to go before I can attempt that though.

I'm curious arborescent, are you located in the northern or southern hemisphere? WRT to P. brachystachys, I've read that it's considered a weed to winter wheat crops and survives winter. If you're in the northern hemisphere too, and since it seems like you've managed to germinate yours, I might try to with some of mine as well. To that end, I'd like to know if there's anything special you did to germinate yours.

Thanks for making me aware of P. nexus. From what I've read, it does seem to be a plant that's well-suited to cold climes. Did yours require rooting hormones when you propagated it from leaf? Arkham's doesn't seem to have it in stock, but I'll definitely look around and keep my eyes peeled for it.

It's a shame that P. viridis doesn't grow in cold climates, and I'm thankful that people like Darren from herbalistics are spending their time selectively breeding plants that are suitable for tougher climates.

[arborescent]

Yeah I'm in the north. Continental-ish east midatlantic america. It can get really cold here, though my windowsills stay a good way above freezing. I kept my Phalaris AQ1 on a table just near the window and it did ok through the winter. A little ragged around christmas but still green.

I hope somebody manages to get P. nexus to the UK. If not I might be able to send a tissue sample somehow once I have a few extra leaves.

[nicoty]

Yeah I'm in the north. Continental-ish east midatlantic america. It can get really cold here, though my windowsills stay a good way above freezing. I kept my Phalaris AQ1 on a table just near the window and it did ok through the winter. A little ragged around christmas but still green.

Ah that's good to know. I'll definitely try to germinate some of my P. brachystachys seeds ASAP then, especially since there's still seems to be a lot sunlight during the day. But I'll have to make sure not to water them too much so that they hopefully survive winter and don't become mouldy.

I hope somebody manages to get P. nexus to the UK. If not I might be able to send a tissue sample somehow once I have a few extra leaves.

That's quite generous of you! From what I can tell, herbalistics do export P. nexus to the UK but they have a minimum order requirement when purchasing anything from them which is a little inconvenient and is why I prefer Arkham's. To that end, I'll contact the Arkham's Botanical people to see if they have any plans to supply P. nexus cuttings and let you know what they say.

In other news, the L. williamsii and E. lageniformis seeds came in the mail today and, surprisingly, Arkham's also sent me Papaver somniferum seeds as a bonus! Tomorrow, when it's naturally brighter, I'll take pictures of all the types of seeds I got from them so far so you guys can help me determine if they at least look genuine. As evidenced by the picture I sent last time, the lens on my camera is obviously not up to par for taking nice macro shots, so I reckon I'll have to resort to placing a magnifying lens in front as well haha. We'll see though.

[nicoty]

As promised, I've attached images of the seeds I've received from Arkham's so far (as well as an update image of the 2 M. pudica seedlings which have now sprouted proper leaves). Apologies for the really bad quality of the images. As mentioned, I don't have a macro lens so I've had to make do with using a magnifying lens and evidently my photography skills are not very good . Anyways, I'd really appreciate it if you guys would take a peek at the pictures and tell me your verdict. Do the seeds at least somewhat look like what they're supposed to?

I've also sown 8 P. brachystachys seeds and will sow some P. somniferum seeds later today, because I've read that, as well as doing well when sown in spring, they can also do well when sown during autumn.

I've yet to receive a reply from Arkham's about the possibility of them selling P. nexus though, but they've replied pretty quickly in previous conversations so I'm not to worried. Thing is, I asked about cuttings and live plants, but I forgot to ask about seeds. Hopefully they talk about those as well, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[nicoty]

Arkham's replied to me:

With regard to 'Nexus', yes, that is definitely something on the horizon (along with a lot of other cool plans), but not for a while as I managed to burn a load of Psychotria leaves to a crisp under the August sun here in Spain... Coincidentally, I added a small 'UDV' viridis to my own collection yesterday, so am hoping we'll be able to offer that at some future point too. We appreciate your feedback on this, as over the next few years we're intending to offer many more interesting plants than we're able to currently (e.g. https://www.arkhamsbotanical.com/shop/trees-shrubs/anadenanthera-peregrina-yopo-rooted-plant).

So it does seem like we'll be able to buy it from them soon. It's the first I've come across the term 'UDV' viridis though. I guess that's a cultivar/variety that the União do Vegetal themselves use, right? If so, I reckon that would be a pretty interesting plant to cultivate.