Check out my blooming crinum!

[tjudy]

My huge, old Crinum natans is blooming. Here is a link to the blog post and video:

http://tedsfishroom.com/2012/07/31/blooming-crinum-natans/

 

[HaakonH]

22 years with this amazing hobby and I still get to see and learn new things almost every day. Thank you

Haakon

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Quality flower and a lovely tank. I haven't got a tank big enough for one, but I really like Amaryllids. I grow Crinum x powellii and Crinum moorei in the garden, C. x powellii flowers most years, C. moorei late in the autumn in some years and the closely related Amaryllis belladonna has survived 10 years, but never flowered.

Dierama and Schizostylis do well here, but all the Gladiolus, Watsonia etc I'd grown from seed and planted out have all departed in the last 2 winters.

cheers Darrel

 

[The Big Sleep]

Very cool video, congrats on the bloom!

 

[PeteM]

Beautiful, did it set any seeds?

 

[tjudy]

Beautiful, did it set any seeds?

Actually... it did! I did not think that the blooms germinated, because I did nto see any swelling of the ovary within a week of the blooms fading. But I did not cut the bloom stem off, and after a few weeks the seed pods started to form. They are very slow maturing though. As of right now the largest pod is still dark green, smooth, about 1" long and 3/4" in diameter.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
The fruit might get quite large. I assume that C. natans will be similar to Crinum moorei where the fruit is a fleshy capsule that gets as big as a tomato and goes brown when ripe before splitting open to reveal a few large seeds.

I think in all Amaryllids that the seed should germinate straight away, and some-times is already germinated in the pod.

cheers Darrel

 

[tjudy]

If it is a large pod, it is a very slow-growing large pod....

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Ted I'm not entirely sure, but I think all Crinum spp. have large fleshy seeds, although some other Amaryllids have a "dry capsule". Assuming that the seed development is similar to (the closely related) Clivia, the fruit does take a long time from flowering to ripeness.

cheers Darrel

 

[Jonm]

Any update? That was a beautiful plant.

 

[tjudy]

The plant did produce seeds which were released into the tank when the pod rotted away very quickly. I can seen three or four that have germinated, but there are probably more.