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woodnative

Fun creating new Thanksgiving cacti!!!

woodnative
9 years ago

A lot of folks here are showing off their beautiful flowers now. Last year I took pollen from my yellow TC and put it on my red. A couple took and the ovaries became swollen over the next few months. Eventually they ripen into a pink berry. Sometime last summer I squeezed the black seeds of the first berry to mature onto some moist potting soil and placed in a ziploc bag. Here is the result next to another berry that ripened later. Easy and I can't wait to see what color it blooms next year!

Comments (21)

  • camellia1_gw
    9 years ago

    Great Job! That would be fun making new babies.

    Funny, I was debating about another cup of coffee or not. Apparently, I need another one because when I read the title; I read it as Fun "eating" Thanksgiving cacti. How did I not see the CR?

  • woodnative
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Cmellia1 that berry looks kind of tasty and maybe it is edible (?) LOL!

  • camellia1_gw
    9 years ago

    Yeah, right. So when I saw the pic, I thought...hmmm, it's like eating the berries on the cactus optun...Can't remember variety...LOL!

  • Stush2049 Pitts. PA, zone 6
    9 years ago

    Chris,
    Looks good. Keep us updated. My red one has a more redish leaf. My white one is more light green. Maybe the leaf color may give you a clue. I think the all yellow is more rare. At least I don't see any around here.
    Rich,
    When the seed is fully ripe, it will start to split out but you can harvest early if it gets deep red. Seeds then gets cleaned and then planted fresh.
    Stush

  • woodnative
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    oldstumpy that looks ripe. They change color like most fruit to that pink/red Seeds is black inside and relatively small.
    Stush maybe you are right on that. My red is a little darker foliage but not much more than the yellow. The yellow is not too rare anymore I got my original in a food store a couple years ago and see them on occasion. Funny though you see bunches of a certain color one year and then none the next. Same with Sans....

  • Laura Robichaud
    9 years ago

    I have one fruit on my white Easter cactus and one on my red Easter cactus. The one on the white EC is green and the one on my red is dark pinkish. Is there a problem just leaving them attached until next spring?

    It should be interesting if I can get these seeds to grow. Since all my EC were blooming at the same time (purple, red, white and orange), who knows what color the blooms will be?? :)

  • parodise
    9 years ago

    Woodnative, you got lovely seedlings there!
    I have recently cross-pollinated two Thanksgiving cacti that bloomed simultaneously for me - Samba Brasil and a white large-flowered NOID. Both seem to have set fruit. How long will it be before I can harvest them, ballpark? How long do Schlumbergeras take from sowing till blooming?
    Does anyone have any info on how petal coloring is passed on/inherited in Schlumbergeras? Which colors are dominant?
    Thanks.

    Lena

  • silenteyesspy
    9 years ago

    Since you're into propagation what you should do, is take a Schlumbergera x Buckeyi and mix it with a pure white Truncata. So it would make a pure with True CC!!! Please make sure to keep us updated with pics, and the final flowering. I'm excited for you!

  • woodnative
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Lena-
    It takes several months for the fruit to grow, mature and ripen. I think the first one ripened in June (at least 7 months later). The seed and initial seedlings are tiny but seem to grow quickly! At this rate, I am sure it will be blooming next year......figure 2 years after your initial pollination. I wonder about the pattern of color inheritance too but this was just fun!

  • laticauda
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    It's almost that time of year, WN. How are your seedlings looking? Do you think they'll flower this year? Did you separate them into their own pots?

  • akrrm (Nancy in NJ 7a)
    8 years ago

    Woodnative, does this have blooms or is it blooming now?

  • woodnative
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Laticauda and Akrrm no it had a spill and setback while outside this summer. Hopefully I can recover it by next year!

  • akrrm (Nancy in NJ 7a)
    8 years ago

    Cool. Can't wait to see what color they are.

  • Paul MI
    8 years ago

    From what I had read on the blog "Plants are the Strangest People" (http://plantsarethestrangestpeople.blogspot.com/2010/08/tease-schlumbergera-truncata-cvv.html ):

    " One is also almost certain to be surprised by the results: the genetics of Schlumbergera flower color are complicated and not fully understood. You can cross a salmon with a salmon and wind up with 200 white seedlings, or cross a pink with a yellow and get purples. Spontaneous mutations also sometimes happen, though since spontaneous mutations tend to be recessive, it can take years to get them to show up: you have to get two copies of a recessive gene in a plant before you can see what it does, and Schlumbergera self-incompatibility means that you can't just cross a plant with itself, or a close relative, to get the two recessive genes together."

    The blogger is one to do his homework so I would expect a high degree of reliability with his post.

  • rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Paul

    His blog is interesting - and funny at times, and I believe he does quite a bit of research too before posting.

    Wasn't he also participating on GW in the past?

    Rina

  • silenteyesspy
    8 years ago

    As promised...here it is!! It bloomed on Monday, but I just got around to posting!


  • ninecrow
    6 years ago

    NICE!!!!
    Have a Question Though.....
    If You Leave Fruit on The Plant Will it Still Flower or Are They Like The Ones That As Soon As Fruit Sets That's IT For Flowers?
    Thanks

  • woodnative
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    ninecrow they still still flower.........well not sure about the actual end with the berry but they still flower, and continue growing.

  • ninecrow
    6 years ago

    Thank You
    Just MIGHT Have To Have a Go,,,,
    LOL

  • socks
    6 years ago

    This is inspiring. When my two plants bloomed, I just touched the flowers to each other, not expecting much, but there are now 12 pods on the two bushes! On one bush they are pink, but the other plant's are much darker. They are firmly attached, so I won't harvest now.