Agriculture.ph Blog

Among plant lovers, there is that innate obsession to own something different.

That is why mutant ornamentals are often sold at exorbitant prices. There’s somebody we know, for instance, who paid P30,000 for a beautiful variegated fishtail palm.

Another paid P10,000 for a beautiful variegated Spathiphyllum Sensation. Even the variegated calamansi, a sport of the all-green variety, is also much more expensive than the standard variety. A big one could sell for P500 while the green variety of the same size may fetch only a hundred pesos or a little higher.

One mutant palm that has made a lot of growers much richer is the so-called Golden Veitchia. This is a golden mutation of the ordinary Bunga China or Veitchia merrillii. This was first discovered in the garden of Cesar Pecson in Singalong, Manila, in the mid-1980s. It came from the fruits of a Bunga China planted beside the gate of Pecson’s home.

While having merienda in Pecson’s garden, the editor of this page saw some of the seedlings that sprouted from the fallen fruits on the ground had golden leaves. He suggested to Pecson that he pot those golden seedlings and then sell them at the Baclaran plant market where he had a stall. That’s exactly what he did and was glad to sell them at only P25 per seedling. When he observed that people were buying his seedlings, Pecson raised his price. He raised all the more when the plant traders from Bangkok learned about the Golden Veitchia and bought everything that was available.

Meanwhile, the original plant continued to bear fruits that grew into golden plants. The early growers also observed that the plants were beautiful. The golden leaves didn’t suffer from sunscald so the plants were highly suitable for landscaping.

Many of the local growers made money by selling some of their full grown plants to landscapers at a high price. Some of the plants they retained bore fruit and they also produced Golden Veitchia seedlings which they were able to sell at a good price. The Golden Veitchia has made not a few growers not just a little richers.

In Thailand, the Nong Nooch Garden Resort is now growing Golden Veitchia by the hectares and is selling them at a high price.

Where do you find mutant plants? They could be found anywhere. In a nursery that germinates a lot of seeds, some seedlings occasionally come out variegated. At the Teresa Orchard & Nursery there are variegated jackfruit, mango and Abiu that emerged from thousands of seedlings.

Some owners don’t realize the money-making potentials of such mutants so they just ignore them. They might even discard them. If you find such an owner, you might as well offer to buy his plants. He might even give them to you for free because he does not know they are valuable.

Some people resort to high-tech means to induce mutation. We know a doctorate holder in agriculture from Los Baños who used to induce variegation by subjecting the seeds to irradiation.

He had been quite successful in inducing variegation not only in ornamental plants but also in forest and fruit-bearing trees.

What is important in the collection of mutants is that the mutation should be stable. The plant should not revert to the original condition of the mother plant.

Creative technique

Here is a creative way of using bachelor’s button (Gomphrena globosa) flowers. At left are flowers pinned on a round styrofoam. The flowers on styrofoam are then used in a flower arrangement at right, using fronds of birdsnest leaves as foliage. The arrangement makes a dramatic flower arrangement in a hotel lobby. (Ben S. Vergara)

Spectacular bridal boquet

This floriferous Bridal Bouquet (Porana paniculata) makes a showy tree in the garden of Dr. Benito S. Vergara in Los Baños, Laguna. Its flowering in November is a harbinger of cool days ahead. The sweet mild scent adds to the spectacular display of this plant.

Variegated mango

Dr. Benito S. Vergara spotted this striking variegated mango at the recent flower and garden show in Los Baños. Note the mature leaves turning green. This will enable the plant to grow faster unlike the almost albino sports that are difficult to grow and need shade to protect the leaves from sunburn. Dr. Vergara, a national scientist, suggests that garden enthusiasts should be taught some fundamentals of plant breeding and plant selection, and how to propagate a sport or mutant plant. The Philippines, he says, is rich in sport production, like the many-colored multibract bougainvillea which was first identified in the Philippines, and the Golden Veitchia which is now popular in the tropics.

Variegated octupus tree is one of the mutants that came out many years ago. Despite the long years that it has been with collectors, it is still a rarity because the owners don’t want to multiply it in big numbers. They apparently want to keep it to themselves. As it is, it’s a status symbol to own one. That’s why plant collectors don’t want to multiply it in big numbers.

This variegated fern is a mutant of the all-green variety. It is the kind that many plant collectors are looking for and are willing to pay a high price.

Variegated yucca

This is a mutant of the all-green Yucca. It was bought by a well-to-do plant collector who exhibited it in a garden show. It easily won a first prize in the plant competition. All the more, the price went up. Even the small propagations could fetch a high price. Many people in the plant business are on the look out for unusual mutants because such plants could bring them a fortune. Moneyed plant collectors don’t mind paying a high price for plants they like, especially those one of a kind.

Written by Zac Sarian

Source: www.mb.com.ph