Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Alpines => Topic started by: Jan Jeddeloh on November 06, 2016, 02:34:54 AM
-
So has anyone succeeded in growing jankea? I'm in the weird position of having scads of it in tissue culture but haven't been able to transition it to the real world. The fussy little things curl up their toes and die. I can't claim credit for getting it into tissue culture. Esther Benedict of Benedict Nursery in Indiana started from seed, got a clean culture and managed to propagate it. I met her at the NARGS annual meeting in 2015 and she gave me a baby food jar of jankea. A friend and I have been working with lilies and trillium in tissue culture so we just added jankea to the mix. Esther has also had trouble getting it out of culture. I believe her only successes have been with placing it directly on tufa and covering it with moist burlap but I know she has a pretty high failure rate too.
I have exactly one piece of tufa (hard to get around here) and today put some tiny little pieces onto it by tucking it into the moss. I wonder if one of the problems we've had with putting it into soil is that it likes a limey soil. Maybe we should mix in some extra lime? If so how much do you think? I also put some on peat pellets under lights and some into a soil mix. And one pot in "Sumi Soil" little pellets of expanded clay. So what other suggestions do folks have? I'm happy to entertain even the most outlandish ideas. I will say they grow great in test tubes inside up lights which isn't where you think and alpine ought to grow.
I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.
Jan
-
I think tufa is fine as the handling is easy but other rocks are also possible. Naturally the grow over or better in limestone crevices. I add some pictures from Mt. Olympos to show their natural habitat but they are not of best quality. Sometimes they grow in pure moss without having the roots between the limestone.
I would suggest to plant them out not too early. I grow them vertically and north faced between blocks of tufa and those that get the most rain are doing better than the others in the rain shadow of a big Thuja.
-
I managed to get a few seed but they did not germinate. The seed were planted in a pot and also on tufa.
-
Jankaea heldreichii (Boiss.) Boiss.
http://botany.cz/cs/jankaea-heldreichii/ (http://botany.cz/cs/jankaea-heldreichii/)
-
Here's a picture of the jankea in its tissue culture home (I hope. I've been having trouble posting pictures). You can see what I mean by lots but that doesn't do me a lot of good if we can't get them out of culture. I took this tub to my local NARGS chapter meeting on Tuesday and it went home with our master asexual propagator. Maybe she can figure out a way to root the little critters. I think part of my problem is that they don't have much in the way of roots. Possibly there is something in my media that is good for multiplying them but not so good for developing roots.
[attach=1]
Jan
-
Here's a picture of the jankea in its tissue culture home (I hope. I've been having trouble posting pictures). You can see what I mean by lots but that doesn't do me a lot of good if we can't get them out of culture. I took this tub to my local NARGS chapter meeting on Tuesday and it went home with our master asexual propagator. Maybe she can figure out a way to root the little critters. I think part of my problem is that they don't have much in the way of roots. Possibly there is something in my media that is good for multiplying them but not so good for developing roots.
Jan
Remove cytokinins, restrict sugar, add kalium phosphate. This worked for potatoe tissue culture.
Try it for Jankaea heldreichii.
-
This is my attempt to grow them on tufa. I drilled holes and inserted the tiny plants back filling the holes with the dust from the drilling.
The tufa is stood on a tray of sand which I keep wet. I also water over the top on dry days.
The one thing I have found with these plants is they need good air circulation. If it is damp and stagnant they rot.
This is their second year .
There was a magnificent clump on Olympus for many years near Prioni which sat on a ledge in pure moss. It was 40 cms by 15 cms in size. It disappeared when they improved the path.
-
That's nice, Tony! Where did you get all those lovely little Jankaea plants?
Alex
-
That's nice, Tony! Where did you get all those lovely little Jankaea plants?
Alex
I got them from a friend (no longer with us) who had a one time success with seed some years ago and they were gradually fading away and so this was a last resort to keep them going which seems to be working.
-
Ah, right. Good luck with them, I know that setup has given good results for many people.
Alex
-
I've just seen this photo on Facebook from Vangelis Papiomytoglou of Jankaea heldreichii in habitat on Mt. Olympus - this is the best pic of a HUGE plant of this that I can remember seeing - spectacular!
[attachimg=1]
-
What a stunning shot. Thank you for showing. I had missed the possibility to buy some young plants last year unfortunately. :'( :'( I will definitely make up for it. I will order the same for my friend Gerd Stopp. Hopefully he has some more ... you do not get anywhere.
-
We grew the leaves for several years after buying it from Ger (not sure I can spell the rest) at a SRGC Discussion weekend at Pitlochry I think. Eventually Brian gave up, it didn't die but it didn't thrive either. Good luck to anyone trying it.
-
Glorious specimen.
Some species are best to be enjoyed in the wild or in pictures, whichever comes first ;)
-
Glorious specimen.
Some species are best to be enjoyed in the wild or in pictures, whichever comes first ;)
You are absolutely right ... in nature it always looks the best. And as perfect as Mother Nature we can not place the plants at all. Especially the foliage is the madness ... or?
-
Growing Jankaea can never be considered easy, but my late husband and I managed to flower it from seed in 3 years by rather unconventional means in the early 1990's. This was written up in 'The Rock Garden' Vol. XX1V Part 2, pp 191-199
-
Maureen's comment gives me the chance to remind folks that (apart from the few latest journals) all the issues of the SRGC journal The Rock Garden are freely available online - from this page of the main site - Journal - http://www.srgc.net/site/index.php/extensions/journal (http://www.srgc.net/site/index.php/extensions/journal)
You will find a full index to the journals available to download on that page, too.
And the article mentioned is in issue #95 which can be downloaded via this link : http://files.srgc.net/journals/vol_1%20to_113/95.pdf (http://files.srgc.net/journals/vol_1%20to_113/95.pdf)
-
Thanks, Maggie for making the above easier to find for folk. I knew the Journals were on line and had tried to locate them and couldn't. Just followed your instructions and eventually got there.
-
Today I was with my garden friend Gerd Stopp. There I was able to buy many rarities from all over the world. There was also a relatively large copy of Jankaea heldreichii. I am very happy about it and will try to establish it on a large limestone stone.
I have never had this plant and am curious how it develops.
-
good luck! in tufa and sheltered it should grow well
-
This huge mothers plant is 30 years old and stands with Gerd Stopp. I did not want to keep them from you and simply had to take a photo. :)
-
Geir Moen has just posted on Facebook about how he grows Jankeaea from seed :
Geir Moen
Lately I've got some questions about propagating Jankaea heldreichii from seeds.
So here is basically how I do it:
I use a mix of 3 parts peat, 2 parts perlite, 1 part sand. Then on top of the compost I put a 0,5 cm layer of vermiculite. For larger seeds I would now sow on top of the vermiculite, and then put a top layer of grit. But for dust-like seeds as Jankaea, Shortia, some Primula etc., I first put the top layer of grit (thin - just so it covers the vermiculite). Then I spread the seeds on top of the grit. Finally I wash the seeds down between the grit down to the vermiculite by using a spray bottle. Then I place the pot (tray) so it can soak up water. Finally I seal with a plastic bag or lid and place outside for stratification.
It's sometimes hard to sow the right amount of seeds, partly because of the dust-size and partly because the quality might vary from year to year. As you see from the picture last year seeds have now germinated, and I've used way to many seeds in each pot. Probably I'll just have to remove some seedlings so the rest can develop well.
Keep in mind that propagating Jankaea from seeds is a slow process (that starts AFTER germination)