Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Cassabanana (Sicana odorifera) Update
I brought some of my Cassabanana seedlings to the greenhouse and moved the others to a west-facing window at home. For some reason they were beginning to wilt under the grow lights. I keep my lights on 24/7 which most plants seem to be alright with. Apparently Cassabanana is not one of those plants and enjoys a rest.
What I find most interesting is that both plants seem to be growing at a similar rate. The greenhouse is warmer, sunnier and more humid. This window sill has snow on the other side, only gets afternoon sun, and is dry. I figured they would go crazy in the greenhouse but they really haven't. The window sill one is actually a bit longer (less light) but both appear to have about a similar number of leaves. I know many gourd/melon plants start out growing relatively slowly then just take off. Maybe I'll see a difference in a few weeks.
I hope I actually see some fruit out of these plants. They need about three months of warm weather to set fruit and ripen properly. They should be well established and ready to flower by the time I set them outside. We do have about 4 good months of warm, humid weather. I just don't know if it will be enough for a tropical vine. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I keep my lights on 24/7
ReplyDeleteReally? How come?
I didn't use too, but I generally just use the lights to start seedlings now. In everything I've started so far I haven't found any long term effects on the plants and they have always grown much faster.
ReplyDeleteI looked up leaving the lights on and it was recommended not to do so for a variety of reasons. In practice I haven't seen any reduction in plant health over the last 3+ years. I even grew some dwarf tomato plants to fruit!
The foliage is shockingly pretty.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it? As soon as the first true leaves came out I couldn't believe how lovely the leaves became just by adding some white.
ReplyDelete