A Plant's Story: Welwitschia mirabilis

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  • Опубліковано 17 лис 2024
  • Welwitschia is an incredibly unusual plant. It only ever gets two leaves and some specimens are as old as 1,000-2,000 years old in their native Namib desert. Here I talk about how it survives and grows and what makes it rare in the plant world.

КОМЕНТАРІ • 39

  • @GardeningatDouentza
    @GardeningatDouentza 4 роки тому +25

    What magnificent specimens. I love that you have potted them in those tall pipes to allow the root to travel down. It shows off the leaves so well too.

  • @duncanpage1556
    @duncanpage1556 Рік тому +1

    Wow love it!

  • @garrettabcdefg4602
    @garrettabcdefg4602 7 місяців тому

    4 years later and this is still the best video on them. Awsome plants

  • @romanadorotadorickova3047
    @romanadorotadorickova3047 3 роки тому +5

    Ever since I've heard about it on my plant physiology course I can't stop thinking about it. Very intrigued to make her the queen of my collection

  • @xacademic8383
    @xacademic8383 4 роки тому +10

    What an excellent description of this highly unusual plant. Clear and concise - as an academic I applaud you and as a person trying to find out about this plant I thank you.

  • @theagg
    @theagg 3 роки тому +5

    Great specimen. I experimented with growing these way back in 1989 -90. With seed from two sources, one lot from plants in the Huntington Botanical Gardens (The curator at the time sent me some free seeds) and the second lot from the curator at the Windhoek Botanic Garden in Namibia, sourced directly from the desert plants. She sent me quite a few seeds fresh from the Namibian 'field'. (again, free, so really kind of her to send them over to me here in the UK)
    At the time these were hard to get, of course, and there was so much concern around the difficulty growing this plant that perhaps I ended up killing many of them as a result of being overprotective. (You know, delicate tap root, fungal problems with young seedling etc.) Nowadays I'm seeing them being grown in composts I would not have imagined using back then (I spent ages sieving out granite chippings and pumice to try and make free draining mediums etc ). With all those efforts, I managed to get one to around 8 - 9 years old before slipping up and killing it as a result of not protecting it soon enough when colder weather hit and the greenhouse temps dropped too low.
    Sad day that was and shortly thereafter I moved home and to a place where I could no longer have a greenhouse. So I could no longer experiment with growing this wonderfully odd plant. Growing it as a 'houseplant', without even a conservatory, is a challenge too far, much as I would have loved to try (ok, I did try, briefly, with the few seeds I had left, in my new home, without a garden or greenhouse, but Welwitschias find it really tough going on a windowsill:) )

  • @SizzlesDiaries
    @SizzlesDiaries 3 роки тому +6

    Welvitchia Merabilis our national plant🇳🇦

  • @sheldonmurphy6031
    @sheldonmurphy6031 9 місяців тому

    Just now learned about this plant on a plant planet video.
    This is the first informant video, and wow that incredible!
    I couldnt imagine the heart drop to learn someone cut the entire leaf off.
    Most of those people will be long dead before it grew back to the size before someone cut it. 😲
    Thank You For Your Knowledge Ma'am 🤗

  • @CMZneu
    @CMZneu 2 роки тому +1

    Great video! It's an amazing specimen of a truly ancient and one of a kind lineage of plants, right up there with cycads.

  • @DenisBasic-u7i
    @DenisBasic-u7i Рік тому

    Thank you very much for this very informative video. Can you please give us some hints and tips how to propagate the plant from seeds with a few more details? Germination time? Humidity? The best temperature? Thank you very much in advance.

  • @Tadesan
    @Tadesan 9 місяців тому

    Yeah teach me Marlene!

  • @esmeesmeralda701
    @esmeesmeralda701 4 роки тому +6

    Omg nooooo @ the person who cut the plant

  • @ellahalberstadt2932
    @ellahalberstadt2932 4 роки тому +3

    no way! im in davis i wish i could see it

  • @melaniek072895
    @melaniek072895 4 роки тому +4

    What is the reason not to prune the brown parts off the leaves tho? Does it do something for the plant or just a way to see how old it is for someone who doesn't know?

    • @MarleneThePlantLady
      @MarleneThePlantLady  4 роки тому +5

      No harm to the plant as long as only pruning cuts are made into the dead parts but aesthetically the plant looks better and yes it is used to track growth

  • @bagsbugs3024
    @bagsbugs3024 2 роки тому

    "some university in California which will go unnamed--UC Berklee" you are iconic lmao

  • @MariaSilva-tn9ly
    @MariaSilva-tn9ly 2 роки тому +2

    not Namibia desert but Namibe desrt , because this plant , just existe in my country Angóla

  • @libertyordeath7779
    @libertyordeath7779 9 місяців тому

    If you’ve never been called a milf before, you get the esteemed title today 😊

  • @bingbongtoysKY
    @bingbongtoysKY 2 роки тому

    👏👏👏

  • @sunshinecarnivores1919
    @sunshinecarnivores1919 2 роки тому

    Are these hard plants to grow?

  • @jennifertrowbridge5055
    @jennifertrowbridge5055 4 роки тому +2

    If the roots got deep, what kind of pot do you have it in?

    • @jennifertrowbridge5055
      @jennifertrowbridge5055 4 роки тому

      *grow

    • @MarleneThePlantLady
      @MarleneThePlantLady  4 роки тому +2

      The old ones we have growing in clay pipes. But they tolerate growing in shallow pots if watered every other day. The majority of our collection are growing in 8” pots.

  • @aneskintveit288
    @aneskintveit288 3 роки тому

    Llove Llove fra Ane Skintveit

  • @mastergardenerlivingstontr7672
    @mastergardenerlivingstontr7672 2 роки тому +1

    Where can i buy one of these plants

  • @Stefan_Eccles
    @Stefan_Eccles Рік тому

    🌵🌵🌵🔥🔥🔥

  • @meshalqh.3663
    @meshalqh.3663 4 роки тому +3

    Which will go unnamed ... LOL😭😭😭😭😭😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

  • @ooobeewee6217
    @ooobeewee6217 4 роки тому +1

    where can i buy that plant or seed?

    • @MarleneThePlantLady
      @MarleneThePlantLady  4 роки тому +2

      W I N on eBay small seedlings will be periodically sold by Barry Rice... We don’t have any seeds for sale

    • @albertromero9353
      @albertromero9353 4 роки тому +1

      If you ever make it out to Tucson, the nursery called Plants for the Southwest produces many seedlings.

  • @richardp6461
    @richardp6461 2 роки тому +1

    Just seen the ones in Africa. Check out the latest from Crime pays but botany doesn't. 👍

  • @nangulashapwa194
    @nangulashapwa194 3 роки тому

    i live in namibia

  • @tedscott1478
    @tedscott1478 2 роки тому

    Leaves, not leafs

    • @MarleneThePlantLady
      @MarleneThePlantLady  2 роки тому +1

      I was in speech therapy for years as a kid.. if this is what i walked away with I’m cool with that..

    • @conrad2411
      @conrad2411 2 роки тому

      @@MarleneThePlantLady
      Wish I'd've gone speech therapy, but maybe I just choose to be silent? Or was speech therapy for something learning? Doing very cool either way

    • @conrad2411
      @conrad2411 2 роки тому

      @Ted Scott No mam, it's actually called Leefts..