Ep. 138- The Mandarin Plant
Chlorophytum orchidastrum Plant Profile
If you haven't seen the striking, bright orange growth of the Mandarin Plant, Chlorophytum orchidastrum, then you’re in for a treat.
We were so intrigued that we both tried growing them! After 6 months, what have we learned? Which Plant Daddy had a better experience? How are their flowers? And could this be the Spider Plant’s prettier, moodier cousin?
Then on the After Show, we discuss the plant pots we never have success with. Are they cursed? Head over to Patreon to hear!
Mentioned in this episode:
we talked about the Spider Plant in Ep. 112, which inspired us to check out this colorful relative - but how does the Mandarin Plant compare in its growth habit and care needs?
it’s an easy plant thanks to its extremely adaptable and tolerant nature, but we still had a few frustrations (though they largely came down to cosmetics)
since they don’t produce baby plants or quickly form large clumps like the Spider Plant, these are less easy to propagate, but both of our plants flowered, which means we’ll have plenty of seeds to grow! However, this takes a surprising amount of time, and really seemed to put the plant’s growth on pause, so this might be a plant that we don’t encourage to flower in the future. And we agree - the flower stalks are significantly unattractive.
what exactly is their Latin name? They’re seen as Chlorophytum orchidastrum, C. amaniense, and C. orchidantheroides, and have various trade names like ‘Fire Flash’ but we were disappointed that we weren’t able to find out what plants in the wild look like.
And lastly,
We’re excited to team up with Soltech Solutions! Use code PLANTDADDYPODCAST at checkout to save 15%!
Listen ad-free as an Official Patron! And enjoy exclusive access our episode After Shows, where we stick around for some of the questions and conversation that didn’t fit in the episode.
If you are interested in supporting us that way, just go to Patreon to join.
As always, we thank you for listening and supporting the show any way you choose, and thanks to everyone who encouraged us to get on Patreon!
We complained a lot about the flower stalks of the Mandarin Plant this week, but like Matthew said, the flowers themselves aren’t bad - they’re cute and star-shaped, and rather benign.
But check out how they mature into blackened, browning, dried out seed capsules. This plant began flowering with the first days of 2022, and Matthew finally harvested the seeds in late May. It was a relief to removed the ugly flower stalk, but the plant is already beginning to grow new leaves!