My Chimera Experiment
I had this beautiful Lyon's Crown Jewel plant and it died from root rot while trying to change it over from bottom watering to wick watering. It fell apart so quick, I barely had time to grab a good leaf. It was a chimera though, so, yeah - no reproducing it, right?. Lyon's Crown Jewel is a sport of Golden Rubies. So I figured if I put down a leaf, I might get something interesting. So that's what I did.
I really didn't expect to get the original plant "Golden Rubies" from a sport leaf. It just doesn't happen that way but maybe something "unique"? So after a few babies came up, I noticed that on two plants it had a leaf that was half normal and half red separated vertically down the middle of the leaf. Hmmm.... a birthmark leaf? At the very least I might get some more half red leaf plantlets or another unusual sport maybe. And the plant has yet to bloom too.
So I decided to do a little experiment and took the half green, half red leaf and propagated it. I don't know. I have propagated chimeras by suckers so I really didn't expect to get anything close to a chimera. In the grow for show violet world, these kinds of leaves are considered "undesirable" and most growers pitch plants in the trash that have them. It's not a desirable trait to pass on. That may be where this one winds up eventually too. More than likely I will give it away before I trash it.
On 07-15-18 The flower opened up. I tipped the pot trying to get a good look at it and it went head first onto the desk. I had to tape the stem to a stick but it's O.K. because there are more buds coming up from the base of the plant. It looks like a fantasy chimera. Hmmm.... can hardly wait for more blooms to see what it does.
It's not totally gross but it's not that pretty either. Don't know if I'll keep it or not. Just wanted to see what it would do. Haven't made up my mind yet. The other two plants from the same leaf this one grew from are getting monster big so unless they produce a terrific flower, they'll probably be gone too. The leaves are so big, they look like lettuce! Not very pretty, too bad. But it was a good experiment. And so far, all the babies are chimeras too.
So maybe you will get a chimera from your chimera if you put down a leaf but it may or may not be as pretty. If you want an exact duplicate (most of the time) of your chimera plant, take a stem cutting or a sucker from it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 5, 2018 - The cut leaf tops in soil are still alive but no babies yet. I'm surprised they haven't rotted. The chimera leaf that is half red, half green is having trouble with its roots. I've changed the water about 3 times already and it keeps getting algae. Some of the roots look dark, not white. It has produced roots but not babies yet so I'll keep trying with it.
July 9, 2018 - Two of the plantlets from the leaf have developed birthmarked leaves but only one of the three that I'm growing has developed buds. The other two with red markings do not have buds yet although they are all growing rapidly.
July 19, 2018 - The leaf I put down has produced new roots and babies are starting to grow.
August 1, 2018 - Two of the three grown plants are blooming now and they look somewhat like Crown Jewel. They are chimera too but not as intense in color and the edges are white, not green. They are not as pretty so I'll probably give them away. I thought you couldn't grow a chimera from leaf but these did. I'm not going to propagate them further because the leaves are birthmarked and they are not an improvement IMO.
I really didn't expect to get the original plant "Golden Rubies" from a sport leaf. It just doesn't happen that way but maybe something "unique"? So after a few babies came up, I noticed that on two plants it had a leaf that was half normal and half red separated vertically down the middle of the leaf. Hmmm.... a birthmark leaf? At the very least I might get some more half red leaf plantlets or another unusual sport maybe. And the plant has yet to bloom too.
So I decided to do a little experiment and took the half green, half red leaf and propagated it. I don't know. I have propagated chimeras by suckers so I really didn't expect to get anything close to a chimera. In the grow for show violet world, these kinds of leaves are considered "undesirable" and most growers pitch plants in the trash that have them. It's not a desirable trait to pass on. That may be where this one winds up eventually too. More than likely I will give it away before I trash it.
On 07-14-18 One of the plants with the red/green birthmarked leaves has a bud about to open! It's getting exciting!
On 07-15-18 The flower opened up. I tipped the pot trying to get a good look at it and it went head first onto the desk. I had to tape the stem to a stick but it's O.K. because there are more buds coming up from the base of the plant. It looks like a fantasy chimera. Hmmm.... can hardly wait for more blooms to see what it does.
It's not totally gross but it's not that pretty either. Don't know if I'll keep it or not. Just wanted to see what it would do. Haven't made up my mind yet. The other two plants from the same leaf this one grew from are getting monster big so unless they produce a terrific flower, they'll probably be gone too. The leaves are so big, they look like lettuce! Not very pretty, too bad. But it was a good experiment. And so far, all the babies are chimeras too.
So maybe you will get a chimera from your chimera if you put down a leaf but it may or may not be as pretty. If you want an exact duplicate (most of the time) of your chimera plant, take a stem cutting or a sucker from it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTES
July 5, 2018 - The cut leaf tops in soil are still alive but no babies yet. I'm surprised they haven't rotted. The chimera leaf that is half red, half green is having trouble with its roots. I've changed the water about 3 times already and it keeps getting algae. Some of the roots look dark, not white. It has produced roots but not babies yet so I'll keep trying with it.
July 9, 2018 - Two of the plantlets from the leaf have developed birthmarked leaves but only one of the three that I'm growing has developed buds. The other two with red markings do not have buds yet although they are all growing rapidly.
July 19, 2018 - The leaf I put down has produced new roots and babies are starting to grow.
August 1, 2018 - Two of the three grown plants are blooming now and they look somewhat like Crown Jewel. They are chimera too but not as intense in color and the edges are white, not green. They are not as pretty so I'll probably give them away. I thought you couldn't grow a chimera from leaf but these did. I'm not going to propagate them further because the leaves are birthmarked and they are not an improvement IMO.
Comments
Post a Comment