I garden in the UK with an interest in exotics from all over the world. I have two questions about Richea pandanifolia which is like the holy grail to exotic gardeners in the UK.
My obsession with this beast continues...

My small plant (now a whomping 4" tall) will need repotting at some stage soon and I'm not sure what medium it would prefer. Am I right in thinking a peaty mixture? I think the compost it's in is peat based. I'm not sure because I bought it as a seedling.

Also, my tray of seeds that I sowed on Jan 13th 2004 has signs of something germinating among the shards of Sphagnum moss. There appears to be a number of very small shoots topped by 2 circular seed leaves. These leaves are less than a millimetre diameter each. Is this what I should be seeing if it is the Richea germinating? Any tips on pricking them out and growing them on?
Cheers,

Mark

Don't prick them out - they detest root disturbance.

I have a 50cm high one I've had for many years - I started out with 2, but I blinked the wrong way once and one just died. I would cut out as much as possible around the seedlings and try to establish them in pots (coir and sand might work). My big plants are growing in normal aussie potting mix(low P) 50:50 with 10mm gravel. I grow it in full sun in a greenhouse with air conditioning. In the wild they seem to grow anywhere from deep peat on the sides of streams through to gravel on the sides of hills. They also get 3m of rain and mild conditions :)

When you repot, place the plant and soil, wholus bolus, into the new pot. I've lost many richeas by not following this precaution.

I also get red spots on the leaves, I have no idea whether this is a virus or what but so far it hasn't killed it (touch wood!).

Incidently richeas are indeed dicots, so you should be seeing two leaves. What shape they might be I can't say.

For me, in Melbourne, R. pandani seems the most robust of the big tassies. I've never kept scoparia alive more than a summer. R. gunnii (the small eastern tassie one) is easy to grow and propagate.

I have two R. continentalis from the mainland, and they have survived a summer growing in a large foam box and have put on considerable new growth.

Many thanks for a very informative answer.I will attempt to take a macro shot of the seedlings on the weekend and post it for you.
I grow what I bought as R. scoparia but I'm not sure it is the real thing. I will also get a pic of that plant which is happy enough in a raised bed growing in ballast (sharp sand and gravel) with a little composted bark.

Thanks again for the advice about the medium and root disturbance, I will follow it carefully.

Cheers

Mark

I don't grow pandanifolia (not enough space) but I do grow dracophylla & scorparia down here at sea level - both rather slow-growing but easy if they don't get hot & dry for too long.

Kayman, Tasmania

Here is the album...
http://www.pbase.com/pillharrier/early_2005

In Richea germination 3 you can clearly see little two leaved seedlings. Anyone confirm that these are Pandani?

Thanks for the added advice Kayman.

Great plantsa - shame they are so tricky!

It doesn't look too much like the forms of scorparia (leaves persisting on the branch when dead, rigid, lance-shaped, tapering to a sharp hard point, 3-6 cm long; some curving, others straight) I'm familiar with from around Hobart & Mt Field, but it does resemble a drawing in Kirkpatrick's book of a form from Ben Lomond - though more sparsely clothed than that one (you may want to try and up the light levels & reduce the temperature you're growing it in).

It's difficult to tell but on balance I'd plump for scorparia (unless someone with more experience than me or access to The Student's Flora of Tasmania is prepared to join in).

As for them being tricky - I was at the local botanic gardens last week; the scorparia in their Tasmanian plants area was looking decidedly off-colour, so you're in good company.

Those 'seedlings' look like marchantia thalus to me, or maybe a fern (though I though ferns had heart shaped ones). Are they transparent? Then they are probably some bryophyte.

The seeds probably haven't germinated, that's all.

MArk

I would have posted earlier but haven't been to the site for quite some time.

I don't know alot about Richea but reading though your posts I looked up the descriptions of both R. scoparia and R. acerosa in my copy of The Student's Flora of Tas. If you don't have any flowers then the way to tell the two apart would be the lenth of the leaves. R. acerosa's are 8-14mm long and R. scoparia's are 30-60mm long. The margins on the leaves of scoparia are also scaberulous.

Hope that helps.

Matt.

Marie

You might try getting a copy of the June '05 edition of "The Plantsman" which has a small piece on Richeas. It includes a key (probably only useful when your plant flowers) as well as recommendations about where in the UK they can be grown outdoors. This has it that dracophylla is the least hardy, only to be tried outdoors in the south-west or (perhaps) under the shelter of evergreens.

Kayman, Tasmania

By the way, my Archontophoenix cunninghamia will beprotected over winter by heating cables as are a number of other borderline plants I grow in the ground…Cyathea medullaris, Ensete ventricosum, Rhopalostylis sapida etc. I used to be an engineering designer of heating cable systems so I have a knowledge of what to do and so far it has worked.

Kayman – I will endeavour to source a copy of that journal. Do you know if it’s available in the UK or would I need to order it online from overseas?

Nothing further has happened in my R pandanifolia tray but if it does I’ll let you all know.

All the best

Mark

I'm told that Richea seed germinates profusely when fresh but may take several years when older. Good luck with the wait ahead with the pandanifolia.

Plantsman is the RHS journal. Available separately or as part of their membership package. If your library doesn't have it, you'll need to find an RHS member and make friends.

The Archibalds would be a good site to source seed of dracophylla in the UK. They also have seed of curtisiae (the hybrid between dracophylla & scoparia which was recently raised to species status, named after Winifred Curtis who died in Hobart aged a 100 only a few days ago).

Regards

Mark

I don't know a lot about Tasmanian plants but Footfulofbindis (love the name) has made a couple of good suggestions. I would recommend Kentia Palms (both Howea forsteriana and belmoreana) for planting in colder areas. My palm book says they can 'withstand mild frosts without setback'. I know they are more cold tolerant than bangalow palms. The nursery I used to work at years ago used to send 100's of Kentias to Melbourne regularly.

Strelitzia nicolai is supposed to be quite cold tolerant.

The heater cables I use were sourced directly from a company I used to work for. They are electric cables very similar to soil warming cables but I use them above ground wrapped around the trunk/stem of the plants. They are self-regulating so that as the ambient temperature outside drops, the output of the cables increases and therefore the warmth of the cables increases. They are pretty efficient though and based on an ambient temperature of about –5celcius, the power output of the cables is about 11watts/metre. I use a total of 70 metres in my garden totalling about 800 watts at that ambient temperature. They are connected to a thermostat that switches the system on when the temperature drops to 5 degrees celcius. The intended use of these cables is freeze prevention in pipelines at refineries, oil rigs, chemical plants etc.
I wrap my plants with fleece first, then wrap the cables around then another few layers of fleece. Some of the plants also get a rain cover (Ensete ventricosum being one).

Goldhills – Kentia palms are easily available here in houseplant sections of DIY chains but are not suitable for planting outdoors. My average winter low is -6 celcius and we can get days in cold periods where the temperature hardly climbs above zero. There are plenty of palms we can grow outdoors though…Butia, Trachycarpus, Jubaea, Chamaerops, Trithrinax, Phoenix, etc. Of the more borderline species I have a Livistona australis outside (which has survived –6 for a few winters in a Birmingham (UK) garden), a Rhopalostylis sapida, a Syagrus rom., and the Archontophoenix cunninghamia. The Archontophoenix is a very ambitious experiment here but only cost £30 from a fellow enthusiast. It survived last winter in a pot with the heater cable wraps!

Thanks for your compliments.

I admire your dedication.