Ceropegia bulbosa flower

[Pattock]

Earlier today my Ceropegia bulbosa from India flowered. Only 59 days after germination. The species is very variable so I have no idea if the ID is correct. The flower is 2.2 cm (⅞ inch) tall.

The fully mature leaves are 4.5 cm x 2.5 cm. The main vine is more than a metre long and there are several branches starting.

When repotting at 7 weeks I took a quick snap of the tuber. I didn't want to pause too long to adjust the lighting or the camera. The tuber was 2 cm across.

[Herts Mike]

That’s interesting. Thanks Pattock.

[Pattock]

The picture above was from 5 hours into the 16 hour "day". It had started opening at 4 hours in. By 9 hours into the "day" the trumpet* had flared more and the lantern windows widened.

When the first tiny buds appeared, I noticed they were drying out from the tip before developing. Knowing that they flower during the monsoon season I upped the humidity. The relative humidity had been 30-50%. I added a standard small seed tray lid (cheap, without holes) added half a litre of water and dissolved 50g of sea salt in it. I then added some washed Hydroleca clay pebbles to over 3 cm depth. These float though they are porous and stay wet. The cabinet is about half of a cubic metre in volume. This brought the humidity up to 60-80%. I noticed that a flower bud was developing normally the next day. So, they could have flowered a few days earlier.

* Continuing the candlestick/candelabrum theme of the genus, it could be called a bobeche, bowl, nose, nozzle or socket. Bobeche would be the most precise analogy but the least likely to be understood.

[Pattock]

This Ceropegia is turning out to be very flowery. I might have to invest in one of those tiny hand-held vacuum cleaners.

[Herts Mike]

Good show. What sort of roots does it have?

[Pattock]

Good show. What sort of roots does it have?

If they are happy I don't tend to look at the roots. I assume there is a nice tuber in there by now. Nothing coming out of the bottom of the pot yet.

[ralphrmartin]

Very floriferous. Doesn't look too different to C. woodii / linearis, but that may just be superficial.

[Pattock]

If anyone is interested in how large the tuber got after growing for 360 days, I have just blogged about it.

https://pattheplants.blogspot.com/2022/ ... lbosa.html

[Paul in Essex]

Just like to say how interesting I find your blog. So diverse! And of course beautifully researched.

[Pattock]

Just like to say how interesting I find your blog. So diverse! And of course beautifully researched.

Thanks, Paul.

If you do get to the Manchester and Salford Bee one, I do intend to edit it properly someday. It is just a bit huge.