Lycoris 2015

[fermi de Sousa]

Lycoris incarnata apparently took a year off in 2014 but has put up a stem now (in 2013 it was in March).
I really don't understand what these Asian bulbs want to be able to flower - the South African nerines seems a lot easier to please
2014 was a bit of a dud for L. sprengeri as well, so here's hoping they put in an appearance!
cheers
fermi

[johnstephen29]

Hi fermi I have a yellow lycoris and all I get are leaves year in year out.

[ashley]

Yes I'm good at lycoris leaves too

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi John and Ashley,
Can't give you any hints because as I said before I have very little idea what makes these flower! You could try providing them with dry summer conditions to allow the bulbs to"ripen" - can you get the temperature up to the high 30s (^oC) for a few weeks each summer? I don't think they are as averse to summer water as the nerines and other South Africans are, though as they seem fine when we get summer rain,
cheers
fermi

[johnstephen29]

Hi fermi thanks for the advice, if I leave the pot in a sunny part of the greenhouse it might get that high temperature, not sure about Ashley though with all the rain they have in Ireland

[SJW]

Hi fermi I have a yellow lycoris and all I get are leaves year in year out.

Same here - Lycoris aurea, always in leaf but not flowered for me yet. I've been wary about drying the bulb off completely in summer because I don't think that's what they'd experience in China (?) but perhaps the key is a higher summer temperature, as Fermi suggests.

[ashley]

... not sure about Ashley though with all the rain they have in Ireland

Maybe I should send my bulbs across to you John, for their summer holidays

[johnstephen29]

They'd be very welcome Ashley, then I could bring them back with me in the autumn when I go to see my family up in mayo

[Maggi Young]

This will upset those struggling to get their Lycoris to flower, but it really is a wonderful video - the link was shared with the pbs list by Mark Brown .   
Get a coffee and relax......

https://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=e0_dAO7fh2I

[ashley]

So easy!  Off to build my terraced paddy field 
A south-facing slope I can do but not a latitude equivalent to Morocco unfortunately.

[johnstephen29]

Beautiful video Maggi thanks for sharing

[SJW]

Lovely, but couldn't really understand why the harvested rice left to dry wouldn't ripen properly if the flowers weren't cut back. The flowering stems didn't seem to be casting that much shade?

[ArnoldT]

Steve:

I think it's to facilitate air movement.  The stalks of the Lycoris were too tall and would block the breeze.

[SJW]

Steve:

I think it's to facilitate air movement.  The stalks of the Lycoris were too tall and would block the breeze.

Ah, that makes sense! Thanks.

[jshields]

Why don't Lycoris bloom?  Could be different things.  There are two general sorts of Lycoris -- those that leaf out over winter and those that only leaf out in spring and early summer.   Both sorts can use warm summers.  The winter-growing sorts are damaged by the hard freezes in my Midwestern USA winters.  This weakens them and even if they survive the winter cold, they are too weak to bloom afterwards.  The spring-growing sorts need winter cold, like I have here, in order to grow properly  in spring and bloom in autumn.  They all need some moisture regularly in summer.

Also, they mostly need a good generous root run, so all your flower pots are probably not going to help.

Hope this helps a bit.

Jim