Puya seedlings

[Andy]

So I got a packet of seeds from a friend off of a Puya 'Deep Purple' hybrid (Puya coerulea var. violacea x P. werneriana). They didn't do any active pollination, and although there was another Puya blooming that summer near to it I am still assuming it is an F2 hybrid. I've been closely watching this one particular seedling. Can anyone guess which one has been holding my interest?? The color has been getting stronger over the last couple of months, so I have my fingers crossed! I just potted them up after taking the picture in anticipation of better weather coming...



Here is the parent plant just after finishing flowering this year.

[Shmuel]

Hi Andy,

I would love to see what these look like a year later... (2 years?)

Shmuel

[Melt In The Sun]

The purple one looks pretty dried out compared to the other ones...hopefully that's not the only reason for its color!

[Andy]

For some reason when I potted them up I didn't note on the tags which ones showed the color. Here are two that were handy and I have a couple more in 6" pots already. Once I started fertilizing the color disappeared. I won't try to stress them to see if the color returns until they fill out a 1 gallon pot.

[Shmuel]

NIce growth since your April pictures. Are they winter growers? I am about to sow some Puyas and wonder about the timing. We are zone 9.

Shmuel

[Andy]

For me they mostly tend to be winter growers. After seeing where they grow up in the clouded páramo in the Andes it makes sense. I've had some go from 4 seedlings planted in a 6" community pot to filling out a 5 gallon pot over a single fall and winter season. Then they seem to shut down over the hot, dry summers.

These guys haven't been pushed very fast, but even so I consider this batch relatively slow. I'm not sure if there are some that grow in hotter, more dry local conditions, but as a general rule I would call them winter growers.