Victoria “Longwood” hybrid F1 5 seeds

Item description : 5 fresh Victoria cruziana x amazonica seeds, a hybrid of Victoria also known as “Longwood” hybrid,  harvested on my plant in November 2023.Pollination was done by hand with removal of the male parts of the flowers to avoid self pollination, and guarantees purity. 

Seeds are shipped in water so that they remain hydrated, they must never dry. Seeds should be stored between 12 and 15°C, above these temperatures they might start to sprout spontaneously.

Seeds were tested for germination in December 2023 and showed at least 70% germination. I cannot be held responsible if you don’t get any germination, Victoria cultivation from seeds is known to be tricky when attempted for the first time

Habitat and Description : This hybrid of Victoria is very popular because it becomes enormous, it has a very fast growth and can be grown in southern Europe very easily. It’s much faster and bigger than cruziana, and will tolerate the same range of temperature as cruziana, while amazonica needs very warm water, hard to obtain outdoors in Europe. 

Germination: It’s a fairly easy step. Get an aquarium or any container that can hold water, fill it with water and put an aquarium heater so that water remains at 28-30°C, add a bubbler for proper oxygenation. One very important step that guarantees fast germination is the “nicking” that consists in removing the seed’s operculum. To do so, one must locate the operculum and with the tip of a scalpel/cutter/knife, move 0,5mm aside from the operculum line and carefully cut it to reveal the embryo (see pics). When done properly, the white embryo is visible with a protruding tip . Be careful, if you cut too dip, you will damage and possibly kill the embryo. I can nick the seeds for you if you want, but you will need to sow them immediately. Once the seedling has its 2-3 first leaves and roots, it can be planted. Still at 28-30°C with good sun exposure and a rich soil .

Care : For cultivation, I highly suggest visiting the www.victoria-adventure.org website as it’s a bible of information for growing Victoria. If you cannot access the website because it’s offline, send me a message and I’ll explain how to reach it.

What’s important for Victoria cultivation is full sun, good soil (like sandy loam with organic matter) and fertilizer every 1-2 weeks because these plants are ogres, which is normal as they’re very fast growing and huge.

Cold hardiness : Tropical plant, grown as an annual.