Calico flower

[larry]

I got this guy less than half a year ago and its grown into a giant vine!  These are some of the coolest flowers I've ever seen, too bad they only last for 2 days.  Here's some pics:

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

And that's how N. aristolochioides got it's name.

Fabulous larry! Looks like an N. lowii pitcher to me...too bad we don't have that coloration!

 

[eplants02]

Interesting flower. Never seen one before. It does look like N. Lowii.

 

[larry]

Yup, N. lowii looks more like this plant than N. aristolochiodes.

 

[PlantAKiss]

Wow Larry...that is spectacular! I wish I had the space to grow something like that. What strikingly beautiful flowers. Its amazing how many thousands of neat plants and flowers there are in the world.

You sure got some cooooooooooooooool plants.

Suzanne

 

[goldtrap2690]

cool larry , i got my a. elgans a few months ago and now i wish it stopped growing and produced flowers already , i don't think i have enough room for it anymore . anyways , does the flwoers have a bad odor or is it an old rumor .

 

[larry]

Goldtrap, the flowers are supposed to stink.  They are also supposed to attract butterflies.  But my flowers don't stink or attract butterflies.  

  Sad thing is, it made 4 flowers and has now stopped flowering.  I don't know what's up with it.

And my A. gigantea hasn't flowered yet, but boy will it be spectacular when it does  

Suzanne, you can always grow this in a pot, which is what I'm doing. You could train it on a stake or two and have the plant continuously wrap itself around the stake. You could end up with a huge cluster of weird looking flowers!

 

[Dyflam]

Here's mine... a little different coloration.

 

[larry]

Hey Dyflam, cool pic. What you have there is Aristolochia gigantea.

 

[Dyflam]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (larry @ Aug. 26 2003,01:40)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Goldtrap, the flowers are supposed to stink.  They are also supposed to attract butterflies.  But my flowers don't stink or attract butterflies.  

  Sad thing is, it made 4 flowers and has now stopped flowering.  I don't know what's up with it.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Butterflies use this as a host plant... caterpillars eat it.

 

[voodoolizard]

Nice pics.... I have Aristolochia gigantea seed if anyone wants to try some.

Chris

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

OK now I have aquired some A. gigantea seed, thanks to Voodoolizard! Thanks!! Anywho I was wondering what should I sow these on and how do I germinate them? You know, soak them, stratify them?

?

 

[voodoolizard]

Sow the seed on regular potting soil, lightly covering seed with soil. Then cover the pot with pastic wrap, and place in indirect light. You should see spourts in a couple weeks.

This is how I germinated mine last fall. If anyone has a better method please speak up.

Chris

 

[goldtrap2690]

do you really have to cover the seedw with soil and cover the pot .

 

[larry]

I covered my A. elegans seeds with a bit of soil, didn't cover pot, but kept medium nice and moist.  The seeds took forever to germinate.  Maybe because they weren't fresh.

BTW, my large vine is producing 3 large seedpods, so I'll have plenty of seeds for anyone that's interested.

 

[Vertigo]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (larry @ Sep. 12 2003,12:27)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I covered my A. elegans seeds with a bit of soil, didn't cover pot, but kept medium nice and moist.  The seeds took forever to germinate.  Maybe because they weren't fresh.

BTW, my large vine is producing 3 large seedpods, so I'll have plenty of seeds for anyone that's interested.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
After seeing those pics, I know someone that's interested.

Especially hearing that yours doesn't stink.

Let us know how the harvest goes Larry.

 

[goldtrap2690]

how long does it take to get mature flowering size plants ? i did'nt cover my seeds but i hope they sprout . how do you tell the difference betweenelegans and gigatea , both look the same to me , does it have something to do with size and colors ?

 

[CP2k]

Flowers of elegans are much smaller than gigantea. Giving the seed constant bottom heat through a heat mat can greatly speed up germination and help old seeds germinate. At least it works with elegans.