Get Excited

As I have mentioned, I've had the succulents Aloe Vera and Cuban Oregano for a very long time. The aloe bloomed once in January 1999, which is said to be a rare event for a houseplant aloe. (I have a very blurry photo of it which I'm not going to post, but that's how I know the date.) Supposedly the Cuban Oregano will flower, but I have never seen it. Due to months of greenhouse time last summer/autumn, the copy in our bedroom is one of the better ones I've had in a long time, and I got a little excited when I saw a flower bud forming.

But as it matured, I thought, "That looks like a petunia bud." Indeed it was. A petunia seed must have gotten into the Cuban Oregano when the two pots were together on the greenhouse bench last year. The leaves of Cuban Oregano and a small petunia are somewhat similar if you don't look too closely, so I didn't think anything was amiss until the bud was well along in its development. It flowered yesterday, and it is smaller and more reddish than the very purple blooms of the assumed parent petunia (see previous post), so interpret that how you will. Clones from cuttings will have the same color flowers as the parent, but when you get seeds from hybrids the results are unpredictable.

Volunteer petunia

I also noticed that a bud is forming inside the Echeveria Lola pot, and that's not a petunia bud. Shifting gears, get excited about that.

Echeveria Lola

Lola is under a new grow light in addition to being in a south window in the garage, so there is no excuse about not having enough light. I bought six 2-foot grow lights, so they (mostly) cover three shelves. Below Lola, on a shelf which gets no sunlight, I put this tray of aloe and Cuban Oregano cuttings. The new grow lights don't reach the corners of the shelves, but the 12x16 tray with the 12 cuttings is about the right coverage area.

Aloe and Cuban Oregano propagation

All of my aloe pots are looking a bit rugged this winter. The six cuttings (actually divisions) here in 4-inch pots are what I got from one of the big pots, and I'm only expecting a 50% success rate. If some of these die, another of the four remaining big aloe pots will go under the knife. On the other hand, the big Cuban Oregano pots are mostly thriving, but are not symmetrical except for the one in the bedroom. In addition to the six cuttings, as an experiment I stuck one leftover little stem into a 2-inch pot. I used rooting hormone on three of the cuttings, although I've never had any trouble getting these to root. I'm expecting a 100% success rate, and if that doesn't happen there are plenty more where these came from. (Feb. 18 update: I'm sticking to the 50%/100% predictions. The aloe are struggling and the CO plants look good.) When the time comes, these 12 (or 13) will get potted up and placed in the greenhouse.

Fun fact, this is the first time I've ever used succulent/cactus potting mix for these two plants. I hope they appreciate it, especially the aloe. Sometimes these two get really ratty looking when I put them in plastic pots with whatever soil I have handy and don't give them enough light. Let's see what happens when they are treated well. The goal is to have six each nice-looking aloe and Cuban Oregano plants in 6- or 8-inch terra cotta pots by the end of summer, with a few extra for seasonal plantings with other succulents.

Cuban Oregano scrap in 2-inch pot