I have been breeding christmas cacti for the last 10 years and noticed something really strange on an orange variety that I raised from seed I am posting video to illustrate. The plant has been reliably orange but just put out a white flower anyone else seen anything like this?
http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d2/Na ... D00013.flv
christmas cacti chimera
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- ocimum_nate
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Re: christmas cacti chimera
I didnt even know you could get a christmas cactus to seed! thats amazing to me, I always thought propagation was just by rooting pads...
BTW, do you have easter catus? I have really bright pink one thats pretty cool... right after the christmas cati are done blooming here, the weather starts brightening, and it goes into its show.
BTW, do you have easter catus? I have really bright pink one thats pretty cool... right after the christmas cati are done blooming here, the weather starts brightening, and it goes into its show.
- ocimum_nate
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Re: christmas cacti chimera
The main trick to producing seed is by cross pollination. The plants are self infertile so you have to cross with a different variety. I have tried to cross the easter and christmas cacti but they are too far apart genetically to produce offspring. I have read some research on the subject and have seen that it has been successful with tissue culture and plant hormone manipulation.
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Re: christmas cacti chimera
by different variety do you mean different color?
Re: christmas cacti chimera
Valentine's Day cactus?ocimum_nate wrote:I have tried to cross the easter and christmas cacti...
Alan.
My blog: It's not work, it's gardening!
My blog: It's not work, it's gardening!
- ocimum_nate
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Re: christmas cacti chimera
typically if they are a different color then they will pollinate another variety. However they could be the same color but different parentage and be fertile for cross pollination. I have noticed that most of the white varieties and one of the orange varieties are not fertile with anything that I throw at them. It will be interesting to see if this plant is fertile on the white? I did try to pollinate the flower but I will have to see if it took.
Valentines cacti how appropriate.....
Valentines cacti how appropriate.....
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Re: christmas cacti chimera
just like love... a little painfull at times!ocimum_nate wrote:typically if they are a different color then they will pollinate another variety. However they could be the same color but different parentage and be fertile for cross pollination. I have noticed that most of the white varieties and one of the orange varieties are not fertile with anything that I throw at them. It will be interesting to see if this plant is fertile on the white? I did try to pollinate the flower but I will have to see if it took.
Valentines cacti how appropriate.....
- Jeff: Igor's Apprentice
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