Compost + regime for Gentiana lutea

[Corrado & Rina]

What compost do you use for gentiana lutea (in containers)?

What fertilisation regime do you use?

I have been using a free draining humous rich compost, fertilise them with high potash fertiliser, and keep the compost moist at all times. The plants look good but they fail to grow the stalk and flower.

I was wondering whether to move to a John Innes based type of compost (for other alpines I use JI Nr. 2 + 20 % grit).

Best,

Best,

[Maggi Young]

Hmmm...... interesting question.... I never thought of trying Gentiana lutea in a container. To me these are plants of open hillsides probably well-fertilised by grazing animals - so  better in the open ground and not really suited to pot cultivation.
I would be very interested to learn if others have had success with this plant in a container.

[Catwheazle]

Hi,
Gentiana lutea seems to form a kind of taproot, which is very sensitive. For this reason, seedlings must be planted very early in the garden. I got some from Arktisch Alpiner Garden Chemnitz, the humus were mixed in the sand. With me, you are sitting in calcareous gravelly loam in the field.
www.arktisch-alpiner-garten.de (they have a lot of interesting plants !)
You can mail them. I am sure, that they have experience with pot culture of larger plants.
On Location in wild, near my house, the bottom is nearly the same. In the altitude they grow the soil is covert with only a small raw humus edition.
Hope this helps?

regards
Bernd

[Rodger Whitlock]

Having once grown G. lutea from seed labeled "G. kurroo", at a guess the size of the pot is more important than the soil in it. Any halfway decent potting mix should do, but you need a big, deep pot to accommodate its coarse root system.

[Maggi Young]

Having once grown G. lutea from seed labeled "G. kurroo", at a guess the size of the pot is more important than the soil in it. Any halfway decent potting mix should do, but you need a big, deep pot to accommodate its coarse root system.

You too, eh, Rodger?  I've grown several imposters that came a "kurroo"...I often wondered who was sending it in

[Rodger Whitlock]

You too, eh, Rodger?  I've grown several imposters that came a "kurroo"...I often wondered who was sending it in

Chris Chadwell was just here last week delivering a talk, and I asked him about G. kurroo. He thinks that the "real thing" is not in cultivation at all. He further said that collection of wild seed would be very difficult: it grows on sheer limestone cliffs where you'd need rock climbing skills to get at it, and it flowers and sets seed very late in the season after all the seed collectors have gone home.

It remains a mystery whether the misguided people who send in supposed seed of G.k. are merely gullible and have a touching faith in the accuracy of all seedlist names, or knowingly send in junk under more prestigious names.

I should add that my own experience with mislabeled "G.k." was about thirty years ago, so this is a long-standing problem.