I purchased 2 Streptosolen jamesonii plants in March 2014. A week after receiving them, I potted them and put them in hanging planters o...Read Moren my back porch. They almost immediately started to grow, and within only a few weeks they began to bloom. Keep in mind we had a very warm "winter" and it was in the 80's when I got them. My back porch gets intense and direct sun in the summer (May-July) in the morning (6am-10am), and again in the late afternoon. When the full force of heat and sun hit my little babies in May they started to fail. First the blooms dried up and died. Then the plants themselves started to brown and dry up.
The nursery I purchased them from indicated that the plants like to be warm and in filtered sunlight. I hoped they could handle the 100+ temperatures and just couldn't handle the direct sun, so I covered them with a white semi-opaque fabric. The plant that gets less sun due to it's location on the porch is still ok. It hasn't bloomed again, but is slowly growing and only a little brown on the tips of a few leaves. However, the plant that got the most sun couldn't tolerate it even being covered all day. I put it in the house in the warmest place (not getting a direct blast of cold air from the constantly on A/C) where it could get filtered but not direct sun. At first it seemed to be ok but now all the green is gone and it's pretty much dead--very disappointing considering how long I waited to get them (months) and how much I wanted them to thrive. I check the other one still on the back porch every day and so far it's ok. I water it when it gets dry.
Bottom line, they seem to be able to tolerate the hot temps (100+ for 3 weeks straight), and some sun but not full summer Tucson sun for any length of time.
Okay, so what is the trick to getting this darn plant to bloom? I started mine from seed a couple years ago. I've got three of them in ...Read Morea big hanging basket, and three in a window box on my deck rail. Since they're not hardy here, I bring them inside over the winter. They've grown into huge, lush plants but they've never gotten even *one* single bloom. During the summer, I feed them with Miracle Gro Bloom Booster a couple times a month, but still nothing. They get about six hours of direct sunlight, the most I can provide since I live in the woods. They're on my list of plants that I "threaten" by telling them, "If you don't bloom this year, you're toast!" If anyone can tell me how to get them to bloom, please send me a private message. Thanks!
I purchased 2 Streptosolen jamesonii plants in March 2014. A week after receiving them, I potted them and put them in hanging planters o...Read More
Okay, so what is the trick to getting this darn plant to bloom? I started mine from seed a couple years ago. I've got three of them in ...Read More