Lycoris 2018

[fermi de Sousa]

Lycoris incarnata is the first to flower again - a few days earlier than last year
There are a lot more spikes appearing so it looks like it'll be a good year for them - maybe even L. sprengeri might make an appearance!
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Like I said, there are a few more Lycoris incarnata this year,
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Two more types are now in flower (and L.incarnata is already finished!).
1 & 2) Lycoris x elsae is an interesting mix of apricot/orange shades.
3 & 4) Lycoris aff radiata - I'm not sure is this is the true species so am designating it as "aff"
cheers
fermi

[Gail]

In one of my more ridiculous moments I ordered some Lycoris - seduced by the images of them en mass in Japan;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoris_radiata#/media/File:Lycoris_radiata_-_Kinchakuda_Plateau,_Hidaka,_Saitama.jpg
https://jw-webmagazine.com/kinchakuda-higanbana-fields-enjoy-fiery-red-flowers-near-tokyo-265050ef9759

Now I am aware that I'm unlikely to ever see them flower in Norfolk but a woman can dream, and in the meantime I want to build the three radiata bulbs that have just arrived up to a million or so... Has anyone ever tried twinscaling Lycoris??

[François Lambert]

Gail,

A number of years ago I was also seduced by the idea to grow my own colony of Lycoris radiata, so I purchased a number of bulbs on E-bay and planted them in the fall.  They were slow & weak to grow, many bulbs did not even come up, and every year less bulbs showed a leaf.  Last year (2017) they all seemed dead - no growth noticed in their pots.  I didn't look after the pots anymore, didn't water them and just let the pots sit where they were until I need them for another plant.  But this year - after our tropical hot and desert-like dry summer I spotted lycoris leaves emerging in their pots.  Next year I will transfer them to greenhouse for a good dry summer baking.  During winter when in leaf they also will do better in an unheated greenhouse where at least they are sheltered from wind & snow and perhaps just a little less cold when it's freezing.

To answer your question, I have not tried to twinscale these bulbs, but many bulbs of the genus amaryllidaceae can be propagated in this way.  However, if these bulbs are good at skipping from time to time a growth year, twinscaling may just be a bit risky if your bulbs wait for another year before growing again.  But they are supposed to be heavy ofsetters.  Perhaps you can stimulate them to make ofsets by slightly cutting in the bulb just above the basal plate.  Bulbs kind of heal the wound by filling it with of ofsets.

[jshields]

I did some twinscaling on Lycoris species a few years back.  The bottom line was that if they offset well naturally, they will make bulblets by twin scaling as well.  If they don't offset much naturally, they won't produce bulblets by twinscale.

I worked with LL. squamigera, chinensis, longituba, and sprengeri.   Only the squamigera gave enough bulblets to be useful.  The chinensis and longituba barely gave one new bulblet per old bulb consumed.  L. sprengeri was somewhere in between.

Note that these are all cold-climate adapted species.  The commercial varieties are very likely prolific propagators, so you should get some increase.

Good luck!

Jim

[Gail]

Thank you for your comments gentlemen. I had a look at the bulbs which had arrived; one is already in leaf and I am somewhat suspicious of the yellow spots/mottling showing on the leaves which looks a bit virus-like. I've potted the 3 individually and will keep them away from other stuff. I've gone with François' suggestion of scoring the bulb to try to stimulate bulblet formation with a diagonal cross on one of them. We shall see; I'll have a party if they ever flower!

[Gail]

Reading up on the propagation of Lycoris - they are looking into mass-production in China for extraction of galanthamine which is used in the treatment of Alzheimers (first extracted from galanthus, hence the name). Reports indicate the most success when cutting 4 or 8 chips per bulb. 1/16 sections showed the least regenerative capacity (0.2 bulblets per chip). L. aurea performed better than L. radiata.
See;
https://www.actahort.org/books/517/517_11.htm

http://www.rroij.com/open-access/lycoris-the-basis-of-the-galanthamine-industry-in-china-.pdf