A gorgeous and elegant “flower aristocrat” that everyone would love to try growing at least once. A flower that is out of reach!
Misha: This time I’ll try growing a double-flowered variety of lisianthus.
Hachibee: This is a gorgeous flower. Oh, even the word gorgeous sounds vulgar. It’s too dazzling to me.
Misha: I don’t really understand what Hachibee is talking about, but lisianthus has a unique, elegant beauty.
Hachibee: But I hear this flower is quite difficult to grow.
Misha: Lisianthus is said to be a leaf that is out of reach in many ways. And it’s a double variety, too. I wonder if it will work? Let’s get started!
Eustoma (double-flowered) “almost weekly” cultivation report
10/22 Planting
Misha: Lisianthus seeds are tiny, about the size of a grain of sand, so they are often stored in pellets.
Hachibee: I see, it seems like there are high hurdles even at the seed stage.
10/29 No germination
Hachibee: Hmm.
11/5 No germination
Hachibee: Hmmmmm!
Misha: Hehe, you’ve turned into an alien like Mumumu. The first hurdle for lisianthus is whether it will sprout. It’s a difficult hurdle that may not even come to fruition. Let’s jump forward in time by about a month from here.
12/10 Buds appear!
Hachibee: There it is!
Misha: The seeds sprouted about two months after planting. I zoomed in quite a bit to take a picture of the sprouts, but they are just tiny sprouts.
12/24 The buds are not growing well.
Hachibee: It’s been two weeks since the seeds sprouted, but they still haven’t grown at all!
Misha: This is the second hurdle in growing lisianthus – the buds that don’t grow. Will they remain in the two-leaf stage forever? This is where the battle with anxiety begins.
12/31 Leaves, not growing
Hachibee: Today marks the end of the year…and it looks like the lisianthus hasn’t grown at all…
1/7 The leaves are completely unchanged.
Hachibee: Hmm… Are you still alive?
1/14 Unchanged
Hachibee: Nothing’s changed. Maybe I should have just let it survive the winter as seeds. I can’t help but worry like that.
1/21 Leaves, unchanged
Hachibee: I wonder if it’s okay…
Misha: It’s been three months since the first leaf was planted. I’m worried because it’s rare for a plant to grow so little. It’s a test of patience.
1/28 Unchanged
Hachibee: Hunny! Are you okay?
2/4 Unchanged
Hachibei: Patience, patience. But you know what, lisianthus demands patience from all the readers of this cultivation report.
2/11 Unchanged
Hachibee: It’s so cold! Although it’s sad that they’re not growing, it’s also amazing that the little sprouts remain lush and green in this cold.
Misha: Because we control the temperature indoors. Without this temperature control, lisianthus cannot grow. It is quite difficult to grow them.
2/18 Unchanged
Hachibee: It’s been four months like this. What a stoic thing, Lisianthus.
2/25 Leaves start growing again
Hachibee: Oh!! It looks like the lisianthus is finally waking up!
Misha: March starts next week. The lisianthus didn’t miss the smell of the sunshine and the wind that are just starting to get a little warmer.
3/3 The leaves begin to widen
Hachibee: The leaves are starting to round up!
3/10 Leaves grow longer
Hachibee: First the leaves spread out horizontally, then they started growing vertically. It looks like it’s going through various stages of growth.
3/17 The leaves start to grow
Hachibee: New leaves! Thank goodness, the lisianthus is still alive!
Misha: To put it dramatically, it’s a touching moment that can only be experienced by someone who has the love and patience to put up with a lisianthus that goes at its own pace.
3/24 Leaves growing
Hachibee: I can feel spring coming from the leaves now growing upwards, something we haven’t seen before.
4/7 The leaves grow larger and larger
Hachibee: What a beautiful color of the leaves.
4/14 The leaves grow voluminously
Hachibee: The leaves are starting to look quite glamorous.
4/21 The stock becomes stronger
Hachibee: It’s starting to look more like a plant than a leaf.
4/28 The stem appears
Hachibee: Wow! The leaves were multiplying rapidly and just when I thought they were going to grow upwards, a thick stem appeared!
Misha: Once the switch is turned on, the lisianthus grows rapidly.
5/5 Lift Up
Hachibee: The stems have started to grow, but even more so, the leaves are so healthy! They look like they’re raising their arms in the air.
5/12 Evolution to tower type
Hachibee: The grass is getting taller.
Misha: It grew so fast that I had to support it for a moment, but the stem is so healthy that it doesn’t need any support.
5/19 More and more leaves
Hachibee: The stems and leaves are the same color. It’s a cute pastel green color.
5/26 The grass grows rapidly
Hachibee: It suddenly grew huge!
6/2 Buds form
Hachibee: Suddenly there are buds! That’s developing really fast! Is it a reaction to having spent the whole winter with only two leaves?
Misha: Yes, I never could have predicted the speed at which I would grow back then.
6/9 The buds begin to swell
Hachibee: The stems are growing and it looks like buds rising up to the sky.
6/16 The buds begin to open
Hachibee: Oh!
6/23 In bloom
Hachibee: Ooooh!
6/30 Still blooming
Hachibee: Ohhh! When will it bloom?
Misha: That’s right, this slow flowering is the third hurdle in growing lisianthus.
7/7 flowering
Hachibee: Wow, it’s blooming! What a gorgeous flower!
Misha: It took three weeks for the buds to open and the flowers to take shape. Gorgeous is the perfect word to describe them. They were definitely worth the wait.
7/14 Flowers start to bloom one after another
Hachibee: Awesome!
Misha: There are many varieties of lisianthus that have been developed, so there is a wide variety in size, color, and petal shape. It’s a riot of colors.
7/21 full bloom
Hachibee: They started out blooming all at once, but gradually they all bloomed together, as if the flowers that bloomed earlier were waiting for the flowers that would bloom later.
Misha: Another point is that the flowers last a long time.
7/28 End of flower
Hachibee: I had so much fun during that long month!
Misha: And what’s special about lisianthus is that the leaves and stems wither and die along with the flowers.
8/4 Green is gone
Hachibee: Yes, you’re right. As if they had watched the flowers wither, the leaves and stems began to wither as well.
8/18 Wither
Hachibee: The leaves and stems all wither and die at once. It’s as if the soul has been called to heaven.
8/25 Seed chamber appears
Hachibee: …But then I noticed that this one spot among the withered petals still showed signs of life!
Misha: Seed clusters. This is where the lisianthus was sustaining its life.
9/8 Seed Harvesting
Hachibee: And then the seed clusters withered too.
Misha: When the seed clusters ripen to an amber color, there are many seeds inside. Countless seeds that are like grains of sand.
~One word! Tips for growing lisianthus (double-flowered)~
Cultivation difficulty：★★★★★
It takes a long time for it to sprout
The cotyledons don’t grow easily
And the buds don’t grow easily
There are many high hurdles to overcome
It’s a difficult flower to grow
But
The excitement when those gorgeous flowers bloom
It’s a lifelong memory
