Serissa foetida, more info

[woody]

Hi all,
Thought I'd share some more info on the serissa with anyone who likes this shrub.
-It's not fond of the cold, like me. So anything below 12-15c needs to go indoors, or some protection of sorts. I've kept some of mine inside for months, and does fine.
-hates getting its leaves wet, they go white, then drop. Now when I water, I avoid wetting the leaves. A few leaves dropped after bringing them indoors during that cold spell we had a week back.
-mine have enjoyed full sun, but I have read they prefer part shade .
-I gave one of them a trim early summer, and it was shooting like crazy.
-softwood cuttings, early summer
This is one I stuck a decent sized river pebble under the roots and re-planted it. I was hoping to get more spread in the nebari, and it worked to some degree, maybe if I left the pebble there longer .

Anyway, I love em, they seem to come back to good health after a mishap. Yesterday, I caught one of the nebari in my cutters. So I superglued them back together, just the outside. So far, so good . Buts it ony been 24 hours, so unlikely to show much anyway.
I plan to cut it back hard next summer, and I'm thinking of getting rid of the 2 individual trunks that cut accross the main trunk at the bottom, and go informal upright. If anybody has a suggestion/advice, I am all ears.



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serissa foetida front 2010.jpg

serissa side 2 2010.jpg

[dragon]

woody
i have got several serrissa's and i love the white flowers they produce i have just styled one as a cascade and waiting for it to grow a bit before i bonsai pot it and got
some more which are styled and in little pots they are only 3 inches tall
Dean

[woody]

g'day Dean,
cascade serissa, sounds interesting. I'v only seen informal. And unfortunately, I missed the flowering on mine because of my itchy fingers . I swear I need to hide the cutters. I've got one I am not going to touch for several years , so I will finally get to see what this 'thousand stars' is all about.
Woody

[Jester]

Hi Woody, great to see someone else is into Serissa. They are by far my favourite and I have about 30 of them with my largest one currently being fattened up in the ground.

Be aware that the species you have is not Serissa Foetida, but rather Serissa Serissoides. There is no mistaking those leaves !!! I only use dynamic lifter on these guys.

Below is a photo of the one that went into the ground just under a year ago.

[Stewart_Toowoomba]

hey jester

Can you explain how you apply the dynamic lifter? I know of it in pellet form but how do you apply it, the rate and regularity?

cheers

Stew

[Jester]

Just pile it on over spring and summer Stew. Remember, D/L is slow release so the plant is not going to mind it in large doses. I have had it on so thick that it was piled up almost an inch high. Serissa's seem to love the organic matter. I have not had anywhere near as much success with synthetics like Osmocote. Serissas just seem to like organic material released "slowly".

John

[woody]

hi Jester,
thanks for your input. I am hoping everything i've learnt about the foetida applies to the serissoides. At least what I know in a practical sense still applies.

I would like to know what your photo is (love the sweep in the trunk), serissa or serissoides When I zoom into the leaves, they kind of look like the one i've posted. I am about to go hunting for info on the serissoides, and anything you know about both serissas, I'd really appreciate. Sounds like you've spent a lot of time on em.

here we go again.

thanks heaps Jester
woody

[Jester]

Hi Woody, just to clarify, what you and I both have is (Genus) Serissa, (Species) Serissoides. So, the proper name is Serissa Serissoides.

Serissa Serissoides stands on it's own ; that is to say, there are no cultivars that I know of. It is just the one shrub with the one elliptic leaf and tiny white trumpet like flowers. Do not compare what you do to these guys to what you do to the guys meniotned below as they do have quite different personalities.

The other species which in turn contains lots of different cultivars is "Serissa Foetida"
So, for example, you can have Serissa foetida 'pink snowrose'
Serissa foetida 'kyoto'
Serissa foetida 'double floro pleno'
Serissa foetida 'white snowrose'
Serissa foetida 'mt. fuji'

Often these guys are recognised by either their flower or leaf shape / size. I make a general habit not to feed these guys as they are a bit temperamental when in a pot. It might be a different story when they are in the ground. If you want to grow a thick trunk, the latter are not for you unless you plan to live to about 300. Only Serissa Serissoides will do this in a reasonable amount of time..

Hope this helps.


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[dragon]

woody
i am going to try to get a picture of mine up as soon as i work this damn camera out
but in mean time i am trying to work out wether it is a wind swept or semi cascade,
so when i do post a pic i would like as much critism as possible because i am here to learn
dean
ok this is just a starter plant which i wired early so i could get shape to it in the cascade style or windswept this picture was taken 1 week ago

[dragon]

these are some of the flowers on my serissa as of today and when is best time to repot and do root work
dean

[woody]

Hey Jester,
thanks again for the excellent info. you've given. Very interesting on the different species. I've been feeding mine NPK 6.14.16. But I will be trying the DL next spring/summer on my others. Everything I have applied to my serissa has been from reading about the foetida. No harm yet.

Hi to you too Dean,
It looks like you have different Serissas there. One with a larger white flower, and the other with the white/purple trumpet flower. I gave mine haircuts early summer, and pinching through the summer. And in Orange, thats not the same as Sydney time. A bit later than normal. I don't know where Berkeley is, but when it starts warming up, thats a good time. And if you need to root-prune them, do it at the same time as your pinch/prune. You can see above what I feed mine. I think i read to keep the nitrogen levels low, and/or weak. I give them a dose every few weeks.

If you need clarification on what your serissas are, which I would suggest you do, send Jester a PM.

And Dean, with your serissa in the blue pot, I can see a full cascade having god potential. Love the white/purple flowers on it. Personally, I think your trunk line is too straight for the first few inches to be windswept. Although you could always plant it on an angle and see what happens to it. A little wire, time, who knows. Take this with a big, massive, grain of salt. And good luck to ya.

Hope this has helped you some

[dragon]

woody
it has helped alot with your infomation i will attempt to bend trunk on the blue pot soon
am letting it sit for a bit as i have just repoted it and dont want to stress it to much
i still have one that i havnt post a picture of as it is still in a large black pot it has a
trunk on it about 18 mm wide and am trying to get it thicker with luck and alot of fert
otherwise it is a wait game for me dean

[dragon]

everyone
this is a little serissa i worked on today i have got one more to do and have a good idea in mind
dean

[Jester]

Hi guys, great see you're having fun with Serissa!!!! In the next few days I will attempt to get photos of some much larger ones which I have in my collection where the trunks are as thick as broom handles.!! Hopefully this will inspire you guys even more.!!! Just pls be patient

John

[Jester]

Hi there crazy kids!!!

As promised, I said I would post some pictures of some of my larger Serissa particularly seeing as you have decided to see the light and take the right path and spending more of your time with Serissa. The following are some of my "mediums". I am tempted to also attach some of the "Jumbos" but I think at this point in time, this would just be too vulgar a display of power

Hope you enjoy

Johnny

PS Have included Tooheys Twist Top for comparison (Attachments may be slow to upload, pls be patient)