Purple crape myrtle seeds

[Kandoloh]

just picked a bunch of seed heads from a light purple flowered crape myrtle by my wife's office. I also got some from a darker reddish/pink one. I'm going to collect the seeds and start me some crapes next spring. Some of the heads are open I just gotta shake the seeds out, some aren't but I read to just put the stem in water and they should open in a few days? Anyways here is a picture of the light purple tree... It looks kinda pink but I assure you when it was in full bloom they are light purple

 

[Txhorticulture]

Never heard of trying them froM seeds. It is super easy to root from cuttings. I rooted cuttings from thick (diameter over 2 inches) cuttings in a bucket on my porch without hormone at summer.

And you say light purple I say pink.lol

 

[aml1014]

I've got 9 that I started from seeds here at work ( I work at a local nursery) and they tend to be super slow in their first year then they'll take off.

 

[Kandoloh]

Never heard of trying them froM seeds. It is super easy to root from cuttings. I rooted cuttings from thick (diameter over 2 inches) cuttings in a bucket on my porch without hormone at summer.

And you say light purple I say pink.lol

Well the flowers aren't as pretty as they were they are almost dead, in the middle of summer they were more lavender, it was the only one out of around 50 they have around the office that color, the rest are Crimson and regular pink. I'm looking forward to growing them. I don't mind if they are slow I like growing stuff from seed.

 

[Txhorticulture]

it was the only one out of around 50 they have around the office that color,

I like the ones with interesting bark. They pretty much all exfoliate layers which is interesting. But some have cinnamon colored bark, some white colored which is really nice, others different shades of brown and gray Also look for small leaves. The one I am working on has largish leaves.

 

[Kandoloh]

The ones I got the seeds from are small compared to all the others around there. I wanted to take cuttings but I didn't really know how, or if it was the right time of year.

 

[aframe]

Never heard of trying them froM seeds. It is super easy to root from cuttings. I rooted cuttings from thick (diameter over 2 inches) cuttings in a bucket on my porch without hormone at summer.

And you say light purple I say pink.lol

What media did you use and when did you make the cuttings?

 

[Txhorticulture]

What media did you use and when did you make the cuttings?

Regular potting soil. I didn't sterilize it or anything

 

[aframe]

radical; what month did you take the cuttings? was the shoot completely hardened off or semi hardwood?

 

[Txhorticulture]

It wasn't even a shoot it was an old branch. I did it as a goof. The power company cut a branch I cut little logs and they rooted lol. I took the 'cuttings" like 13 months ago. It had no leaves or branches. This is the only one of four I kept. Roots are shooting out sides and bottom of net pot.

radical; what month did you take the cuttings? was the shoot completely hardened off or semi hardwood

The dead leaves are just due to my lack of watering.

 

[Txhorticulture]

Here's another so you can see the top

 

[Robert E Holt]

In my experiance the seeds don't tend to grow true to the parent. I have three Crape Mrytles in my yard. They are all rd or pink. Every seed I have grown turn out white. I think cuttings are the way way to go if you want the color to be true.