Hi all, I've just gotten some Dioscorea elephantipes seed and I was wondering if there's any special precautions I should take before sowing it? I had a look at some old threads on here and something that came up was sowing in autumn. It's currently spring here, is it a good time to sow or should I ...

Most of the A. plicatilis over here in New Zealand look similar to that one, probably because our milder climate allows them to be grown outside in the ground. They seem to be pretty low maintenance garden plants.

There are definitely stapeliads with sweet smelling flowers, mostly smaller species it seems like. I had a Piaranthus punctatus flower last year that smelled quite pleasant. I assume that they are probably still fly pollinated, just by hover flies or fruit flies that like sweet smelling flowers rath...

It's definitely eaten by the local people and at least one chemical derived from it does act as an appetite suppressant. There was a problem when some of the anti obesity pills that were being made from it were claiming that other chemicals had the same effect, which has not so far been proven. I ca...

Hoodia gordonii is also eaten by the local people, especially in time of food shortages or on long journeys because it contains appetite suppressant chemicals.

Hi 3 bears Thats a surprising photo of the calibanus, I hadn't realised how hardy they are. Mine is pampared compared to yours. It's a good size & nice that you grew it from seed your self. I'm not 3bears if you were meaning my snowy photo. :lol: My plant was not grown from seed by me unfortuna...

It certainly could be sunscorch, just not sunscorch as a result of water acting as a lens.

If the variegation is genetic and not the result of a disease or similar then a plant grown from a variegated leaf should be variegated as well. However, variegated plants can sometimes to revert to the original colouration, the only way to stop this would be to prune off any green branches that app...

Who by? I only ask because my orchids have definitely suffered this sort of damage in the greenhouse There's an article here explaining it here , basically water is a much less effective lens than glass and the shape of water droplets focuses light away from the leaf surface. The researchers did fi...

I think it's worth mentioned how hardy this species is, mine is outside in all weather with only the side of the house for shelter and it thrives. Here's a picture of my plant last year when we had a freak snowstorm. I would think it might be possible to grow it outside in some of the warmer parts o...