This summer I planted a regular packet of cosmos, three of which grew into giant plants 3 to 4 feet tall. I decided to let them grow to collect the seeds. I plan on growing the seeds from the giant cosmos and crossbreed them with each other and see if they can produce really big plants. I am also planning to crossbreed different colors of Christmas cactus to see what other colors they might make. I have a red one and a yellow one that I plan on breeding together. I want to get a purple, pink, and a white one to try this with also. If anyone has any tips, I would love to hear them.
I have never seen a yellow one so I just went out Googling. That is really cool. What you should get when you crossbreed them would be interesting. Barb in Pa.
Sounds like a very exciting experiment! How long will you have to wait in order to see the result of your Holiday Cactus cross breeding?
I have no earthly clue on how to cross-breed plants. Can you keep us in the loop on your process and progress?
Barb - I think it would be neat if I could get orange from yellow and red. I would also like to see what I could get from yellow and purple, but I need to get a purple first. Droopy - I'm not really sure how long I will have to wait. Last year I just tried red with red and the fruit that was produced still looks like it did a year ago. I'm not sure if I should just take it off or wait. Cheryl - I will definitely keep everyone up to date. I'm just waiting for everything to flower.
I have found white, peach, red yellow red with white inside, and purple on line. Just to have all of them blooming in one spot cascading over the pot would be a real treat. Barb in Pa.
Ok, today I was at the local nursery looking for a purple Christmas Cactus. I found one and several other colors. I ended up getting a white one, a pink one, and a purple one. They had a bronze colored one, but they only had one for $9.99 which I thought might be to much to pay for it. I still might go back and get it because it is a very unique color that I have never seen before. Maybe I can crossbreed the yellow with red and get the color, but we will have to wait about 2 or 3 years for that.
I can't believe you found that many colors. I will run out tonight and see what I can find. Barb in Pa.
Yea, that is six colors that I know of so far. I would love to know if you have any different colors over there Barb.[/quote]
Hubby says, "Maybe the bronze color one was dead". LOL He was kidding. I ran out and got a peach sort of color and lipstick red. I don't plan on breeding them but just growing and blooming them. (If they don't turn into bronze ones) Barb in Pa.
