Crocus January 2014

[krisderaeymaeker]

Nice plants Tony. My baytopiorum is very etiolated
A couple from me C siehanus a second flower. This plant is very slow to increase here. Also C sieberi Bowles White just starting in the garden

The same here with baytopiorum Ian ....This species in particular is subject to this ....
Don't know how to avoid this ?
Nice sieheanus , this is stil rare in cultivation here ....

[Gerry Webster]

Nice plants Tony. My baytopiorum is very etiolated ..........

I disposed of C.  baytopiorum some years ago. It was always etiolated, flopped & looked miserable.

[ian mcenery]

I disposed of C.  baytopiorum some years ago. It was always etiolated, flopped & looked miserable.

I've too many trees and I became so fed up with some of plants being etiolated through lack of light that last week  I bought and installed some growlights. These are  meant to simulate daylight. It's too late for the baytopiorum but the narcissus and other crocus seem to be responding. 

[ian mcenery]

The same here with baytopiorum Ian ....This species in particular is subject to this ....
Don't know how to avoid this ?
Nice sieheanus , this is stil rare in cultivation here ....

Hi Chris siehanus will probably stay rare here to as I have had the plant for 5 years or so and I can't get it to multiply at all. Am trying to get seed but I am not hopeful.

Baytopiorum is difficult and maybe it is just the amount of sunlight. I have several clones as I have raised a few from Crocus group seed and also have some from a generous forum friend but most growers seem to complain about this plant. Also I am wondering if there are other factors at work here such as the amount of moisture?

[Janis Ruksans]

I can't agree that C. baytopiorum is difficult. My first plants came from Gothenburg and I grew it in open garden. It really shocked me by its very unusual colour and every spring I went to my crocus beds with trembling heart - did my beauty alive in passed winter, and always it greated me from distance just by its unusual colour. Later, during LST trip I collected near Denizli thinking that it is C. cancellatus and was very pleasantly surprised in spring when it flowered in my greenhouse following spring by even more exciting shade of blue. Next time I met with it in Turkey during TULA expedition where it grow almost side by side with Crocus beydaglarensis - this case on not very stable stone slip but there it was in some shade coming out from stones. Slope there was shaded by large trees and also it was not easy to walk for sliding stones, there were some shrubs between them showing that stone slip is partly stabilized. I was there at blooming time and saw that flower colour can be quite variable but always keeping its unusual greenish blue shade making it so different from other crocuses. C. baytopiorum undoubtedly belongs to my favourites. I'm writing fromm home, so can't add pictures, may be later today when I will be in office. Outside is minus 18 and I don't want to step out...
Janis

[Janis Ruksans]

Now I'm in office so I can show you some pictures of C. baytopiorum from wild (TULA) and two stocks fromm my collection - one I got from Gothenburg, another comes from LST expedition.

[Janis Ruksans]

Only recently checking flower details by pictures and corm tunics by my dry crocus corm tunic collection and comparing them with original description I found that I for several years am growing one very beautiful crocus named by famous George Maw - Crocus mawii. My plants come from neighbour ridge at some 50-70 km distance from locus classicus. On one picture you can see it growing in wild and on other two - in my collection. One picture show you its variability. Pictures (garden) of course are from previous spring.

[Tony Willis]

Beautiful as ever Tony ! How do you manage to have only smal and few leaves and very low flowerstalks ? I like the way you grow your plants ! It looks very natural .

Kris
I do not have any special method,I water in September and then leave them to get on with growing. my autumn ones are usually a failure due to lack of light but a sunny day in January moves the spring ones along rapidly As to C. baytopiorum this is the first year it has not grown leggy and flopped over without opening.

[ian mcenery]

Now I'm in office so I can show you some pictures of C. baytopiorum from wild (TULA) and two stocks fromm my collection - one I got from Gothenburg, another comes from LST expedition.

On checking my labels and lists I find that one of my  pots of baytopiorum was raised from Gothenberg seed. Whether it is light temperature or moisture that makes the difference and easy for you  I don't know all I do know is that as of now I can't manage to keep it compact

[Maggi Young]

We have problems with etiolation with many bulbs in our glasshouses - partly this can be explained by the low light levels here, partly by the fact that the glass is often filthy (!!)  and partly, I thin, that we seldom have electric fans running in them nowadays. In the past I believe that a vigorous agitation of the air in the houses by the fans were a factor in keeping plants "neater".

Air disturbance - or even a few moments running your hands over growing  foliage  every day - is  thought to help strengthen growth and prevent weakness and etiolation -  I cannot remember where we first learned this- but perhaps someone else can give a link to a source?

[ian mcenery]

We have problems with etiolation with many bulbs in our glasshouses - partly this can be explained by the low light levels here, partly by the fact that the glass is often filthy (!!)  and partly, I thin, that we seldom have electric fans running in them nowadays. In the past I believe that a vigorous agitation of the air in the houses by the fans were a factor in keeping plants "neater".

Air disturbance - or even a few moments running your hands over growing  foliage  every day - is  thought to help strengthen growth and prevent weakness and etiolation -  I cannot remember where we first learned this- but perhaps someone else can give a link to a source?

Maggi you may well have identified another important factor here. All I can say is that with lights and fans on in the greenhouse I will have to consider reducing the house heating to keep the electricity bills down

Probably the fact that our bulbs are far from home and in an unnatural environment has a lot to do with it. Mediterranean winter light (more daylight in the winter) and fresh air might improve them all

[Janis Ruksans]

May be I have more light here, but I rarely met with too excessive growing or etiolation. My polytunnels are not new and polyethylene has some dirt on it, so light ammount is reduced. And polyethylene is less transparent than glass. I think that most important is temperature. All windows and doors are fully open in the season to keep temperature down. I'm not using fans. Plants look quite well.

[krisderaeymaeker]

Many thanks for your comments Janis, Maggi , Ian, Tony and Gery .
Very interesting to discus ..........

[Pauli]

We have rather unpredictable winters lately - when we have a real one, everything is alright - no etiolation. When Croci flower in January then quite a lot of problems. So I think it is a light problem: few hours of very low light in January, much better conditions in March.

[Janis Ruksans]

WARNING!!!  During last week I got several mails from famous growers and my correspondents in UK (between them were croconuts, too) with similar texts: "Found very interesting link for you....", "I was robbed in Italy etc. Police and Ambassador are not helping, send me please little money for return..." and similar. Don't open those attachments etc. I contacted personally with those persons and all those turned hacked addresses and replies will infect your computer with Trojan virus. Be very carefull and inform your friends and correspondents!
Janis