D. spathulata flower stalk

[jaje61]

I finally got a flower stalk on my D. spathulata (boy those flowers must just stay open for a couple of minutes 'cause I missed every one!).  Flowers opened and closed last week, bottom to top.  Now, from just under the flower area up, everything seems to be turning brown.  Also, below all the flowers a branch(?) of the flower stalk looks like it has one more flower on it, which is still green.  Is this browning normal, or did something happen to mess up my seed production?

At any rate, there seems to be another flower stalk starting to come up from the rosette, so just maybe I will get some babies some day...

John

(Edited by jaje61 at 6:15 pm on May 10, 2002)

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

The browning of the scape from the bottom up is normal. You may harvest the scape at any time, and you should have good seed from it. If you would like to be sure, carefully snip one of the top pods that show brown, and roll it between your fingers gently above a sheet of paper. The seed should fall out, they are very small and round. If the pods high up have seed, the lower ones certainly do.

 

[Dyflam]

How soon after flowering are the seeds formed?

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

Seeds mature sequentially from the bottom most pod to the topmost. If the pod is turning brown, chances are the seeds are mature within it. Maturation rates vary, so there is no way to answer this. I usually harvest seed before the final flowers have set seed, as by this time in many species the lowermost pods are shedding their seed.

 

[jaje61]

It is just the top part of the scape that is turning brown, the part with the flowers on it. There is a branch on the scape, about an inch or so long, with one flower bud at the end. Above where it branches is where the main stalk is browning. But to top it off, the plant is growing better than I have ever seen it grow!