Hippeastrum 2008

[Michael]

Wonderfull, wonderfull plans !

[johnw]

Paul - I can't find a decent description of H. striatum but the leaves on mine are like any other big Hippeastrum, no marking. This at least agrees with the description on the Internet for var. petiolatum.
Now the question is why striatum?

I am certain all the H. seed will float as they are like paper. I will test a few though to see if any swell.

Can send you seed of the Rhodophialas as there is a wave of new flower stems.

johnw

[johnw]

Back in July I selfed these two Rhodophiala elwesii grown from seed ex Harry Jans (originally ex Gothenborg) for several people. I also crossed the two and have some seed which may be too ephemeral for the Seed Exchange.  The seed is very light with a barely perceptible embryo.

Also a bit of Hippeastrum striatum seed as well.

If you would like some send me a PM.

johnw

[Armin]

John,
really charming pictures, enjoyed them much.

[johnw]

I have some other Rhodophiala species seed if anyone is interested.

The search function seems to be wonky on the site today......  anyone else? And posted messages lost.



johnw

[Cris]

Johnw, the Rodophialas have such a beautiful colors.

I hope one day to can show mines, blooming such as yours.

I sown them and 3 days after, one of them had already the first rooth. I as so surprised. Now there are more germinating.

can you tell how do you keep them in winter? How much do you water them?

[Hans J]

Cris - I will give you a little answer :

you have to look which Rhodphialas -it is depending what you grow ( summer -or wintergrowers ),

be careful with watering ( each 8 -10 days ) and not too warm

[Maggi Young]

Hans, now I need to ask you more.... when you say "not too warm"... when do you mean... when they are growing or when  dormant .......perhaps always not too warm? How warm is "too warm" ? Sorry is these seem foolisg questions but I think/hope they may be useful to me and to others

[Hans J]

Maggi ,

after my expierience I have the best results with Rhodophials when I have it in winter in my greenhouse ( the pots with seeds and seedlings ) -in summer they are in my greenhouse under the tables .
I have tried it earlier to sow like my other Amaryllids ( Zephyranthes and similar ) - but it works for me not...I suppose they must have to germinate not too warm .
There is a problem . the seeds comes mostly from the southern hemisphere ...so I sow it always directly -later I try to grow for two periods ...than I can give it the right time
The summergrowing Rhodophiala I grow it outside ( under protection from rain ) and I treat it similar like my Zephyranthes and similar ....
But I have to report : Rhodophialas are difficould ( for me ) and they grow really slow -if i compere it with Hippeastrum , Zephyranthes ,Habrantus - they flower after few years.
I would be interestet to hear expieriences from other growers !

[ashley]

Hi Hans,

Last September I sowed Rhodophiala advena which germinated quickly in my greenhouse then eventually went dormant in May.  In August the plants re-emerged before I had resumed watering and now have 2-3 leaves each that are 2-3 mm wide.  By contrast R. serotina sown at the same time didn't germinate so freely for me but plants remained green throughout the summer and now have 3-5 3 mm wide leaves each.  Encouraged by this limited success, now I have also sown bagnoldii, bifida, phycelloides, rhodolirion, splendens and an unidentified species.  However from what you say I have a long wait for flowers    Maybe I must go to Chile instead    

[Hans J]

Hi Ashley ,

I had good succsess with R. bifida - they grows nice !
With seeds from commercial source I was not so happy - only few and bad germination.
Good results I had also with seeds from private sources -the summergrowing species are for me a little more simple .
The problem with seeds from societies is often the seeds are wrong named -mostly is it Zephyranthes !
Interesting to read that you have R.serotina ...  can we maybe swap  ?
I have in this time still surplus seeds -if you are interestet to swap with me please send me a PM.

[Cris]

Hans, thanks for the tips.

By now I have 3 little one year bulbs, but no signs of leaves. It is R. bifida. Sence they arrived in last autumn, the bulbs are in dormancy. Sometimes I look for them and they are ok, but no signs os "wake up". I give them some water to don't dry the roots.
I also have R.advena, bought last year, sown in winter. They germinated very well, the leaves are still green and have more or less 15cm.  In the same time i sown R.splendens, but neather one have germinated, as also Placea arzea.
Now I have R.elwesii germinating.

[johnw]

Cris - Sorry for the late reply.

I really can't remember how I grew the Rhodophiala elwesii from seed. I presume like any other bulb - not over-watering and yet not letting get bone dry. Lots of grit in the mix. As I recall they did not go dormant in the first few years, now they keep a few tired leaves during the dormant period.

They were very slow to flower as noted in previous postings but that was more likely my fault as I didn't fertilize much. Be careful with the nitrogen though.

There is an interesting note on Rhodophiala at the Pacific Bulb Society site:

http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/pbs/2003-March/002261.html

If anyone that I sent seed to has a few left over would you kindly contact me, one requester's packet has gone missing.

johnw

[Cris]

Johnw, thank for the information.
By now, there are 4 seeds germinated.

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

I thought I'd post these pics here, as well as in the Southern Hemisphere section.....

This is Hippeastrum cybister, in flower from seed for me for the first time.  I have now been told that this looks to be the "Regge" strain of the species, just in case anyone is interested in that info.