12/03/2019 - Lift Off

So we've been hard at work sowing the first batch of Ipomoea nil for the season. We've also decided to expand our selection from 25 to 44 varieties for the first batch as we just have so many untried varieties left in the collection and are starting extra early this year.

As the plants will get a 12 hour night period from the start this means we may be able to fit in a couple more than anticipated over the season as the plants should be flowering significantly earlier than usual.

We may be forced into some (aggressive) pruning though as the plants may not be able to go outside before the month of May depending on the weather and indoor space is very limited. Interestingly, combined with the long dark period this may possibly result in some "kirikomizukuri" (pinching method) style plants. "Pinching Method" is not really a good term though as it is much better practice to cut the shoots using a sharp razor. Pinching or using scissors will crush and damage the plant tissues making it much more inviting for pathogens to take hold.

a red speckled kikyo grown using a pinching method during the winter of 2016

The first batch of seeds has been scarified, soaked in a peroxide solution for 24 hours and planted in germination trays. Only two seeds showed early signs of damping off. The varieties were Bamboo Pink and Purple Blast, coincidentally both split petal varieties. We still planted them just in case.

So far 43 out of 48 seeds have germinated  and popped above the soil. This is the second year we're using a peroxide solution for germination and again we're seeing a significant improvement in the germination rates of our Japanese morning glories. A quick comparison:

2019: 89,6% (so far) (peroxide method)

2018: 80,4% (peroxide method) 2017: 64,3% (paper towel method)

2016: 58,3% (paper towel method)

As usual we have only planted one seed per variety to try and fit in as many as possible. We have made one exception however which is Kodachi Violet, the only dwarf variety we've sown so far, which we started 5 seeds of. They stay really compact anyway and we're really keen on getting the same phenotype as last year. And with a couple more plants we're hoping they'll produce a little more than those 10 seeds we got last year.

Kodachi Violet

Varieties planted so far:

Akatsuki no Murasaki | Purple At Dawn

Akatsuki no Shiva | Shiva At Dawn

Akatsuki Pink Denim

Asa Kumo | Morning Cloud

Baby Blue Ray

Bamboo Pink (not germinated)

Black Queen

Blue Mutant

Blue Striated Ray Flow

Blueprints

Bluji Fade

Cosmic Kelly

Country Blue Fuji (not germinated)

Dark Purple Black

Fuji no Ao | Blue Of Mt. Fuji

Fuji Shibori

Fuji Swirl

Genshoku (not germinated)

Hama no Yuki | Snow On The Beach

Heian no Izumi | Fountain Of The Heian Era

Heian no Umi | Ocean Of The Heian Era

Ishidatami | Cobble Stones

Keiryu | Music Of Mountain Stream

Kikyo Blue Halo v2

Kikyo Pearls

Kikyo Quasar

Kikyo Snowflakes

Kodachi Violet

Maisugata | Dancing Figure

Miko no Mai | Sybil's Dance

Misty Blue Youjiro

Murakumo | Gathering Clouds

Peach Pie

Pink Porcelain Blizzard

Pink Sparkle Fuji

Plum Pie

Purple Blast (not germinated)

Raiko | Lightning

Supernova Blue

Tsuki no Odori | Moondance

Tsukiyono | Moonbeams (not germinated)

Umi no Kinu | Ocean Silk

Umi no Kiri | Ocean Mist

Yoru no Hoshi | Night Star

Another batch of 24 varieties has been selected to be planted next. Initially planned to be sown in about a month we've decided to wait and see when would be the ideal time for the second batch and depending on how things develop the number may possibly be bumped up to 48 for a total of 92 varieties of Japanese morning glories this year. (And we haven't even stopped to consider the other species yet.)

Future planned batches: Asahi | Rising Sun | Morning Light At Dawn

Big Blueper

Blue Shibori

Hama no Fubuki | Blizzard On The Beach

Heian no Akatsuki | Dawn Of The Heian Era

Heian no Sora | Sky Of The Heian Era

Jamani Rani | Purple Queen

Kikyo Blue Silk Variegated

Kikyo Blue Speckled v2

Kikyo Red

Kikyo Red Speckled

Kikyo Sapphires

Orihime

Pink Rayed Star Blizzard

Sazanami #2 | Ripples Sparkle

Seiryu | Blue Dragon

Seiun | Clear Blue Sky

Silver Shadows

Silver Stars

Star Of India

Ushio | Tide

Watercolor

White Shibori

Yuuzuki | Evening Moon

Akatsuki no Beni | Deep Red At Dawn

Akatsuki no Mai | Dance At Dawn

Akatsuki no Tsuyu | Dew At Dawn | Blue Silk

Benkei

Blue Flame

Chachamaru | Charming Brown

Fuji Musume | Wisteria Girl

Fuji no Murasaki | Purple Of Mt. Fuji

Fuji no Sora | Sky Over Mt. Fuji

Gray Morning Mist

Heian no Akatsuki | Dawn Of The Heian Era

Heian no Yuki | Snow Of The Heian Era

Kikyo Blue

Kodachi Mix

Murasaki Shikibu | Purple Formula

Pink Splash

Purple Blizzard

Purple Split Petal

Sapphire

Sayaka

Sazanami #1 | Ripples On The Beach

Silver Dawn

White Lightning

Yaguruma | Rosita

In our next blog post we'll be photographing and comparing the emerging cotyledons and see what possible clues they may hold.