An unlikely pair, Part II

Primulina 'Loki' with Snake Plant grown by Nadine

Here is Primulina ‘Loki’ keeping company with the indestructible snake plant.  Now in flower after spending the Winter inside, Nadine has moved it outside with some shade.  It’s eight months later from the Part I  picture.

Primulina will become a common houseplant.

Nadine's planter outside with some shade.

An unlikely pair

Snake plant with Primulina 'Loki' grown by Nadine

            Wouldn’t it be amazing if these two plants proved to be equally tough?

            The snake plant or Mother-in-Law’s tongue (Sansevieria zeylanica) was the original indestructible plant.  My Grandmother had them everywhere.  They wouldn’t die.

            Nadine planted Primulina ‘Loki’ with hers and I predict that it will be just as durable.

Whatcha gonna do with that reptile?

That Pet Place sales cart for vivarium plants

The pet business is huge.  People, young and old, want to have something living to care for.  If you are attracted to reptiles then you need an enclosure for them to live in your house.

            That Pet Place in Lancaster sells many types of reptiles and had a demand for plants suitable for their terrarium-like reptile habitats.

            A vivarium is an enclosure for keeping animals and plants under semi-natural conditions.

            So the management of That Pet Place was looking for a source of ‘Mini’ plants that their customers could use to build their own scene to simulate a natural environment.  They made a two shelve cart with LED lights and pebbled trays to display the plants.

            This has worked exceedingly well.  The plants are well kept and they’ve had rapid turnover.  They sell a lot of plants.

How to get picked by Google search?

Primulina RED 'Loki' grown by Joan Santino

How to get picked by Google Search?

            There is a science to SEO – Search Engine Optimization.

            But the easiest way is to write on Google’s FREE blog --- Blogger.  Write about something so obscure that no one else has done it and you win the search report.

            If you search for “Primulina RED ‘Loki’”, the first nine stories are mine.

Comments worth sharing...

Primulina 'Chastity'- hybrid by John Boggan

        

      Comments on Blogs are often overlooked, so I’m copying these into the lead.

            From John Boggan, a plantsman, who has introduced several Primulina hybrids.

“This is the beauty of primulinas, and why I think they have a lot of potential as commercial house plants: the foliage is so beautiful, even without flowers, and they are just so easy to grow.”

            My response is if you want something to happen, tell your friends.

“John, 
I think that the testing is complete. Primulina can survive as a houseplant. Now it will be the ramp-up stage. Can the distribution gain any traction? Will the supply be able to find any demand?
Initially it will be friends telling friends to try one.”

The Mystery of the RED 'Loki' Continues...

Primulina 'Loki' - Red grown by Joan Santino

            This well grown Primulina ‘Loki’ by Joan Santino, shown at the Springfield AVS Show, renews the continuing question:  What causes some ‘Loki’ to show attractive Red hairs while others,  like mine, to be all green.

            There has been much speculation by Gesneriad growers who have helped me try to deduce the environmental answer.

            We think that it is not high light, low temperature or low Phosphorous.

           

            My bet was that there are two clones.  But I would have lost all of my money.  When I propagated a leaf from Joe’s Red plants, all of the babies came out green.  So no mutation or distinctive clones.  It has to be some other trick.

            When I asked Joan about her Red plant she told me it is grown warm, under lights.  The new clue is that she had used high Phosphorous fertilizer, 5-50-17 for about 8 weeks leading up to the show.

            All of my ‘Loki’s are green.  I use 15-5-15 Ca Mg --- low Phosphorous.

            Is this it?  High Phosphorous = RED

            Why does it matter?  After seeing Joan’s stunning Red ‘Loki’, it’s worth seeking out the Red manipulator.

The Watched Pot...

Primulina yungfuensis-Propagation - 8 weeks

  The watched pot never boils. 

         From three leaves to twenty plants to a hundred small leaves, I’ve been trying to propagate Frosted Jade as fast as possible.  I used small leaves because that’s all I had.  They rooted but I was unsure if any plantlets would come up.  So I looked at them every day.  Nothing --- until I was away and didn’t look at them for days.

            Almost all the small leaves have babies coming up.  It’s almost too good to be true.  This species of Primulina has everything good going for it --- distinctive, stunning variegated foliage on a vigorous plant.  And now, one more feature --- rapid and easy propagation.

            By Fall, I’ll have several hundred salable plants.  And most likely, I’ll have small plants for the July Gesneriad convention in Wilmington DE. 

            You must have one of these Frosted Jade plants.  Prove to yourself that this is an amazing find.  From a weed in China to successful houseplant.