Enclosed Seed Sowing Dome

Exploring the art of bottle gardening

Bottle gardening is still an unusual branch local garden. I learned about this interesting method in New Zealand last year and have been brushing up on pointers.

Bottle gardens classic

Bottle gardens involve true intact plants in a closed environment for months or even years without any interference from the gardener.

This can be traced back to Dr. Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, an amateur botanist, who liked to grow ferns in London during the 1830s. He had the idea of ​​how the Sphinx emerges from a chrysalis.Ward's efforts to damp soil in a bottle closed successfully introduced many exotic plants. He has had a profound effect on a new hobby which is now used by gardeners around the world.

Ward experimented with many plants and seeds. He noted that during the hot part of the day, the moisture vapor from the ground and formed from the condensation in glass bottles. These would be on the side of the bottle and into the ground. He managed to get a seed to germinate and grow inside the bottle, and the factory has managed to thrive without care.

Bottles closed environments are suitable for ferns because of the humidity and constant moisture, the air calm and freedom from pollution. Ward fern Dryopteris filix mas survived to four years. His experience with others was Trichomanes speciosum, a cascading plant that is difficult to cultivate. The first bottle gardening exhibition was held at Crystal Palace, London in 1851.

Modern bottle gardens

Today, open bottle gardens above are also common. Whether you choose to open a sealed bottle or bottle it depends on the plants you wish to have.

A sealed bottle can be very attractive to the eye with greenery and interesting shaped ferns and Selaginella. They can also be easy to maintain. Once the bottle is made, there is nothing to do except enjoy it for months or even years. Even if you are not a green thumb gardener or an expert, you can be sure of success.

Propagation of Pets - Producing Seeds

Propagation of Petrocosmeas from seeds is unfortunately a rare occurence for most of us. For years, the only option many of us had to grow Pets from seeds was from the small quantities of seed that the late Gesneriad Society Seedfund Chairperson, Maryjane Evans produced. Maryjane was able to produce seeds from gesneriad species when most other people failed. She managed to produce seeds from a few species in the late 1990's and those quickly disappeared from the seedfund list. But, recently I've had some success. I thought I would share what has worked for me, in the hope that others might be able to produce Petrocosmea seeds. For me, the two key factors that have proven necessary through three flowering seasons now are 1) high humidity, and 2) low temperatures for both seed production and seed sowing. In my conditions, I have been unable to produce any seeds in the absence of either of these factors. When both are present, I get seeds 33% of the time. While not great percentages, it is sufficient to get more seeds than I can grow. So here's how I do it and what I've learned. First, as the plants start to show buds forming underneath the leaves, I place the entire plant inside a plastic nursery tray that is lined with a section of acrylic blanket cut to fit the tray. This blanket is kept barely moist until I harvest the seed pods. I place a plastic humidity dome over the tray so that the plant is enclosed in a "terrarium" environment. The tray is placed on the light shelves where the Pets normally grow and the plant's care remains the same as always. As the flowers open, I wait until they are open about four or five days. At that time, I note that the stigma has enlarges a bit and if viewed under a magnifying glass, it appears "sticky". At this point it is receptive to fertilization. I remove the pollen from the "father flower" and place as much of the pollen as I can onto the stigma.

Under the dome, a novel

Seed development and germination

The new seed-starters handbook

Principles of seed science and technology

Handbook of seed physiology, applications to agriculture