Gunnera manicata

Post Reply
miketropic

Gunnera manicata

Post by miketropic »

Was talking about this plant with Brain Williams father the other day and he said to stay away from it he has had no luck here with it after several attempts. I got some seeds ( which probably are no good ) to give it a try. I know this is a popular plant in the UK and alot of the pacific north west in the US but no experience with it around here. any tips tricks or hints to growing this monster? I think it will make it through winter here if I can get it started early and I also hear keeping it moist constantly is key.
Kristen

Re: Gunnera manicata

Post by Kristen »

There was an article on Gunnera in RHS "The Garden" September 2012
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/RHS-Public ... /September
(Sadly they've not included that article online)

Salient points:

Normal advice is to cover the crown over winter (with its own leaves) to protect it. The author said that he thinks this is wrong because it encourages the plant to grow earlier in the Spring than an unprotected plant, and THEN the frost damages the growing point. So better to leave unprotected.

I don't know how this would translate to the temperatures that Mike gets though, and Mike's Spring may be fast enough that there is no such thing as "late frosts" in the way that we know them over here - (coming long after plants have been encouraged back into growth)
flounder

Re: Gunnera manicata

Post by flounder »

I think You will struggle with your summer temps over there Mike. These things will drink gallons of water as they get bigger and probably need to be kept shaded to stop them crisping in your 100f+ summers.
Here on the south coast of England, I get away with just using the old leaves to cover the crown for the winter. Never had a problem but generally less cold here.
If you're doing them from seed, the secret is freshness. I've found they lose their viability quite quickly
miketropic

Re: Gunnera manicata

Post by miketropic »

well there is no telling how old these seeds are non of the packs had a date stamp..oh well I'll throw them in and give em a go I found a guy selling seedlings in oregon so that might be the way to go.

I was wondering about the heat myself. my back yard has a large creek flowing through it and is in deep woods so I was going to give it a try down there that way it stays moist.

late frost isnt really a problem here. kentucky weather is pretty simple when its cold its real cold and when it hot its really really hot and humid. we went from 2 days of 27c last month into 10c in the day and 0c at night and its been that way ever since. no real fall season here basically winter and summer.
Post Reply