C. walkeriana A15 x A15

[JungleJo]

This one opened during the night and just said hi in time for my morning coffee. The plant will flower from 4 or 5 leads, but they are in different stages.

I like walkerianas, for their colors and shape when flowering, but also the compact way of growing. They seem to branch quite easily, creating a dense little forest. Some crossings, however, are ugly. There is a lot of experimenting with this species, probably because there is a lot of money to make if you succeed.

I recently bought about 30 juvenile plants as an experiment. They are easy to care for in the summer, but they could rot during winter which is approaching.

[Keysguy]

What exactly is your "winter" weather like there Jo?

BTW- I love walkeriana as well. I think it's my favorite Catt. You are growing it exactly as I plan to when I remodel my shadehouse in the fall. They are in pots right now and doing great but I'm going to move them to shallow hanging cedar baskets. They will get better light and dry faster that way I think.

[JungleJo]

Originally Posted by Keysguy

What exactly is your "winter" weather like there Jo?

BTW- I love walkeriana as well. I think it's my favorite Catt. You are growing it exactly as I plan to when I remodel my shadehouse in the fall. They are in pots right now and doing great but I'm going to move them to shallow hanging cedar baskets. They will get better light and dry faster that way I think.

Winter means 10h light, temperatures 15-18 degrees Celcius during the night with extremes going down to 13-14. On a sunny day the temperature could reach 25-28 as a maximum, sometimes even above 30 for a short time. Winter also means less rain, but sometimes it rains and stays 17-18 degrees C daytime and 14-16 during the night for days. This means 90%+ humidity for 2-5 days without any chance of getting plants to dry out, imagine a little bit of rain every day just to keep them wet. That's when plants rot and where my main worry lies. My plants are all outside, but partly protected from rain. During heavy rain they get soaked as it spreads everywhere, when it rains drip-drop like in Northern Europe they manage to stay dry. I should be ok this winter, but I've lost a few darlings while experimenting (=learning).

Still pretty good conditions compared to my home country :-)

[Roberta]

I don't think your winter temperatures will be a problem for C. walkeriana. They do want to dry out more during the winter, and no fertilizer. The rain protection should help a lot.

[isurus79]

Very nice!