South African Bulbs 2014

[YT]

We also had winter storms this and the last weekends. Fortunately, both were rain at my place but public traffic and distribution systems were paralysed by these record-breaking heavy snow in Tokyo.

Sunshine came back and Romulea tetragona opened its flowers again today

[Maggi Young]

these Lachenalia are beginning to flower now in the basement in SE Michigan while it is still very cold outside.

1. orange- came a L quadricolor (or Lachenalia aloides var. quadricolor)
2. purple with prostrate leaves came as L. unicolor but Arnold questioned this name, the newer Duncan book on Lachenalia says L. unicolor is synonymous with L. pallida. (page 200)
see http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/LachenaliaSpeciesSeven
3. purple with upright leaves came as Lachenalia mutabilis

any help on the naming please.

these were potted last October in a sand grit mix with low humus in 4 inch pots on a sand bed under a bank of 8  T-5 lights with a fan, all on a timer for 12 hrs with increasing light as the season progressed, temps down to 54F nights up to 73F days, just now they are sending up stems. i occasionally put fresh snow on them to water and keep them damp, is this method ok?

How much water should i give these while in growth? what sort of potting media do others use for lachenalia?

I wonder if Darren has any views on these questions ?

[ArnoldT]

I pot all my Lachenalia in a mix of gravel and standard commercial potting mix.
Water when surface is dry. Pot size and composition should have a bearing as well.  I water the clay pots more frequently than plastic ones.

[Richard Green]

Good to see your picture of the maroon Massonia Paul.  I also have received some of this seed from the AGS, and I wondered what the rest of the wording "ex coll" on the AGS list meant - it is obviously missing the word "Uniondale".

[Darren]

I wonder if Darren has any views on these questions ?

Well, obviously the temperature and light are OK - the pictures show nice healthy plants with reasonably short flower stems. Also if the light was poor I would expect the leaves on unicolor to be drawn up whereas those pictured are nice and flat.

My watering regime is pretty much as Arnold describes. Watering needs to be careful in winter. Some species are quite forgiving (aloides etc) but others, especially those from more arid areas, will rot if kept too wet.  Incidentally -  I never top dress bulb pots with gravel as, like Arnold, I use the dryness of the soil surface as a watering clue. I know lots of people do top-dress pots but I'm guessing they are more methodical about watering than myself!

Potting mix is 50:50 loam-based commercial compost (JI2 for those in the UK) and grit (pH about 6.5). The South African literature insists that compost should be sandy and more acidic but I've never found a Lachenalia that seems to object to my mix. I've previously found to my cost that definition of 'sand' varies widely... as does it's properties depending on exact grain size and shape.

[Steve Garvie]

I pot all my Lachenalia in a mix of gravel and standard commercial potting mix.
Water when surface is dry. Pot size and composition should have a bearing as well.  I water the clay pots more frequently than plastic ones.

Arnold do you plunge your clay pots in a sand bed, stand them on moist sand or leave them free-standing on a well-drained base?

[ArnoldT]

Steve:

I have a mixture of plunged and free standing clay and plastic posts.

The plastic ones and some clay posts with most of the Lachenalia sit on a wire mesh bench and get water around once per week.

I have a HD light that give some extra light to the smaller Lachenalia plants at around 6 hours extra per day.  It's a 400 watt at around 18" from the plants.


Most of the plunged  clay pots are miniature Narcissus.

[Steve Garvie]

Thanks Arnold!

I bought a couple of mature Gethyllis bulbs from a South African source last Autumn. I potted them up into a mix of dry pumice/coarse sand in clay pots and then plunged them in a sand bed containing other winter growing S.A. bulbs. I had hoped the Gethyllis would start to root but instead they have started to rot as the clay pots have absorbed some moisture from the barely damp plunge.

Is there anyone who could advise on how to turn Gethyllis from a Southern Hemisphere to a northern hemisphere growth cycle without encouraging rot (or desiccation)?
Or should I just forget trying to turn them (Scottish winter light levels are really poor), keep the bulbs cool but bone dry until they show top growth then start gentle watering?

[Darren]

Steve,

If sent from SA in our autumn the bulbs will have only just entered dormancy and would therefore not start to grow until after they have had a warm dry period for a few months - they need this physiological trigger. If it were me I would keep them bone dry until our autumn to let our summer do the job (keeping them dormant for a full year will not harm them - bulbs often do this in nature anyway in drought years). This has worked for me with imported Daubenya - but I lost a few to rot before I got it right. There is always a temptation to give them a bit of moisture and this must be resisted until the bulbs are ready for it.

[Steve Garvie]

Hi Darren,

Many thanks for this advice.

I grow a few Haemanthus, Brunsvigia and Boophone that I got many years ago -plants that survived years of neglect when I lost interest. I can't remember the provenance of these plants but I think they were on a northern hemisphere growth cycle when I bought them so I have no real experience of trying to convert S.A bulbs to a northern growing cycle. My fear is that a whole year in dry pumice without water might cause fatal dessication but I suppose these bulbs are designed to cope with much hotter drier summers than a year under glass in Scotland can throw at them. As you say the temptation to give water is strong! 

I will try hard to resist! 

Thanks again!

[YT]

Romulea luteoflora from Silverhill Seeds

[Mark Griffiths]

very nice YT

[ArnoldT]

Chasmanthe floribunda Duckittii
Veltheimia bracteata

[ArnoldT]

Cyrtanthus Mackenii Var. cooperi.
Named after Mark McKen 1823-1872 horticulturalist and collector, first curator Durban Bot. Gardens.

[Darren]

Consistently the last Massonia to flower here is this one sent by a kind forumist a couple of years ago. Apparently collected by Silverhill seeds (as M. jasminiflora) in a summer rain area but is predominantly winter growing here though it is almost evergreen and increases well vegetatively - both of which make it an oddity. The scent is superb (far better than any jasminiflora I grow) and the late flowering is also odd. A lovely plant.