For this? Welwitschia mirabilis



From the first time I saw this plant , I have been fascinated with it. Strange, weird, odd, alien are some of the words used to describe it. It grows in only a very small area in western Africa and some plants are over 1,000 years old.

I have toyed around with the idea of growing it cause it is such an oddity - hey it only has 2 leaves. For two years now I have thought about it, but seeds are rarely available. I say - yeah, go for it and the only source I was aware of is Sold Out. I just love the challenge of growing things from seed. Particularly hard, strange, different, odd things, out of zone, etc.

And yeah - I know if I did get it to grow my wife would say "what the heck were you thinking?"

Given your fascination with this curious little plant, I say go for it.

If I were going to spend $2.00/seed though, and the plant can live to be 1000 years old (how do they know that?), I would want to have someone lined up to take over when I was no longer able to care for it. Maybe it should be someone other than your wife. Naw, I'm sure by now she knows how you are...a man in love with plants.

Sounds like a lot fun for only $2 a seed.

frankrichards16 said:Sounds like a lot fun for only $2 a seed.

Unless it takes 100 years or so for the seeds to sprout...

Weedwhacker said:



Unless it takes 100 years or so for the seeds to sprout...

I was looking for support. Or condolescenes



I did note that there is at least one other ATP member who has this plant.

Because of the rarity of it, and the fact you really like it, yes then $2 a seed is justified to me.

Your plant may produce blooms in as little as 5 - 7 years...hen you can be the one charging the big buck$ for your seed. Good luck, hope you find the seeds and post tons of photos.

Here are some sources for seed:

https://b-and-t-world-seeds.co...

http://www.sunshine-seeds.de/W...

http://www.rarepalmseeds.com/p...

http://www.lithops.net/welwits...

Thanks for all the links.

Prob is I need a male and a female to make seed. My wife only has so much patience.

There is a guy here -- Mike something who has one, but he has not posted in over a year. Maybe I should mail him.

David Sunshine seeds has a good price, 5 seeds for 3 Euro which is only about $3.27 US. 4 packs would give you 20 seeds for about $13.00 plus between $8.00 and $13.00 shipping depending on the method you choose. Even with the $13.00 dollar shipping you would only be paying about a $1.30 per seed and with 20 seeds you are bound to get a male and female.

Thanks Jay!!

Good grief those shipping rates are outrageous - but aren't they all now a days. I recently bought 7 packs of seed from Parks and the shipping fee was 7 $ on a $22 order.

DavidLMO said:Thanks Jay!!

Good grief those shipping rates are outrageous - but aren't they all now a days. I recently bought 7 packs of seed from Parks and the shipping fee was 7 $ on a $22 order.

Sunshine Seeds is in Germany so I don't think the price is so bad for shipping to the US.

I have read that some plants that people want to pollinate from another that blooms at a different time, they freeze or refrigerate the pollen until needed. Maybe you could trade something with another ATPer for pollen, kind of like artificial insemination of cattle ;-) That way you only need one plant to make seeds.
What will you do with it once it grows, it looks like a beached giant squid (not being snarky, when I looked at the photos and descriptions I started wanting one too)?
We are all such enablers.
You could also start a co-op to buy those seeds. I had fun the other day making a list of all the seeds I wanted from Plant world Seeds. It came to $150! I guess I better pare the list down a bit.

Pistil said:I have read that some plants that people want to pollinate from another that blooms at a different time, they freeze or refrigerate the pollen until needed. Maybe you could trade something with another ATPer for pollen, kind of like artificial insemination of cattle ;-) That way you only need one plant to make seeds..

HHmmm clever Mary [ @Pistil ] Apparently only one person here has this plant (even though others have posted pics of it). Maybe I can get his attention. @johnsonm08 ... Mike ... Since you have this plant, could I get your input to my whacky idea to try to grow this? You are one full zone colder than me. Am I crazy? ]

Pistil said:What will you do with it once it grows, it looks like a beached giant squid (not being snarky, when I looked at the photos and descriptions I started wanting one too)?

You know that is like asking someone who buys a plant --- where you gonna plant it? Many (most?) probably have no clue. I don't most of the time. But then again -- you ARE probably right. When it gets GREAT big --- who in heck would want it? FYI - I hate disposing of a plant and believe it or not, not once in 40 years have I tossed a plant that I tired of. See how sick I am? I would though imagine every Botany dept at every school in the USA would accept the plant as a donation.

Pistil said:We are all such enablers. You could also start a co-op to buy those seeds. I had fun the other day making a list of all the seeds I wanted from Plant world Seeds. It came to $150! I guess I better pare the list down a bit.

Heh. Turning ME loose at the Plant World website is like the kid in the candy store. But this idea is not something I had thought of.

Thanks everyone for all the input. I am in a quandary even moire so now.

Let's not even go there with the issue of acquiring plants and then not knowing where to plant them....

Out of curiosity, I checked out johnsonm08's plant list. Surprised to see two photos of my plants on the first page. Most of the photos of his "haves" are actually ATP members' photos.

That might have something to do with said person not posting much into the database.
Certainly some exotics on that list.

Bubbles said:Out of curiosity, I checked out johnsonm08's plant list. Surprised to see two photos of my plants on the first page. Most of the photos of his "haves" are actually ATP members' photos.

The plant lists are linked to the database and always put a DB photo with the listing (assuming there is one); if you've contributed a photo to the DB, that photo will be linked to your plant list, otherwise it will be the most popular photo in the DB entry.

Thanks, Weedwacker! I wasn't aware of that.

You're welcome, Sandi!