Autumn-Season 2008 begins

[robsorchids]

i have begun sligtly damping the soil in the pots of the various reginae cultivars, as well as peshmenii, i hope im not being to hasty?

of course i wont be watering them to much, i have only been giving slight watering from placing the pots out in the recent rain to help, am i right in thinking they will begin making new roots at around the end of the month perhaps? so what im doing will help with this?

i wont begin full watering regime keeping them moist until the begining of autumn anyway.

they have been kept dry for most of the summer in the cool shed, they were all repotted into fresh mix of perlite and J.innes no 2. I have been giving the odd water every month or so.

as im still new to the autumn drops (compared to you guys) i dont want to make any mistakes so any help would be appreciated.

thank you
rob

[Paul T]

Rob,

I don't treat them any differently here than I do any other Galanthus.  I certainly don't dry any Galanthus I grow.... they get watering throughout the year, although less in summer than while in growth.  Do reginae-olgae need to be completely dry in summer?  If so, don't ANY of your tell mine as they're growing and thriving here with summer watering. 

[Martin Baxendale]

I find Reginae-olgae (at least some forms) can tolerate some rain in the garden during Summer if it has well-drained conditions in a sheltered spot. But it's a different question in pots, especially plastic pots. I've found all snowdrops in pots are best kept dry all Summer. To avoid them getting dessicated, I leave them in their old compost (which is compacted tight around the bulbs) and only repot about August-September as they're more likely to dessicate in loose fresh dry compost.

I'd take care with watering reginae-olgae in pots until you actually see shoots appearing. Just barely moist  would be my suggestion until you're sure the bulbs are well rooted (look for roots emerging from the bottoms of the pots and/or signs of top-growth).

[Paul T]

I guess it is all in the perspective of dry, isn't it.  I have never deliberately left a Galanthus dry here, ever.  But then our dry is so much drier than your dry.  Almost all of mine are grown in plastic pots, although some of course are in the ground.  All are watered to some extent during summer, because with our heat they would otherwise be shrivelled little dead things by autumn!    I have to remind myself at times how different the English and so much of European conditions are.  Almost like a different world when I hear how you guys have to water so little.  Wouldn't it be LOVELY not to have to water?  So much more time to do other things. 

Rob,

Glad you've had advice from someone in your own sort of climate.  I hesitated in responded initially, but thought it would give you my perspective at least.  So very different to your own conditions unfortunately.  Thanks for the info Martin.... I'll keep it in mind if I ever move to a climate where there is regular summer rain. 

[Martin Baxendale]

Paul, we could do with some of your climatic conditions right now. Our 'regular summer rain' is getting beyond a joke. It's been October here for the last couple of months (officially - every other night a weather presenter trots it out..."more like October with a huge weather system sitting over...")   

[Martin Baxendale]

Rob, you could always try gently tipping a pot out to see how your reginae-olgae are getting on. I wouldn't really expect them to be rooting yet, so you shouldn't do any damage, and it'll give you an idea of whether they're too dry or too wet. Or have a gentle poke around with your finger first to see if they're rooting. If you repotted into loose compost early in the summer, then it's probably not been a bad idea to moisten the compost a little from time to time to make sure they don't get too dessicated. It's when they're in compacted old compost that I find they really don't like summer moisture - and never summer wet (at least not in pots - far less dangerous in the open ground).

[Brian Ellis]

Just for you Rob!  Yesterday I looked at the pots and saw Galanthus reginæ-olgæ 'Tilebarn Jamie' was in bud.  Today it's first scape has opened.  The leaves and second scape (I hope) are yet to emerge.  I hope yours are not too far behind.

[David Quinton]

Rob,

I checked my Tilebarn Jamie this evening after I was surprised at seeing Brian's example in flower as mine was showing no signs of growth above the soil level. I grow mine in a pot just like you. The bulb was just beginning to show signs of a shoot emerging from the top and therefore it would appeared to have survived this year. As you are just up the road from me (Cambridgeshire) I expect that ours will flower a little later than Brian's plant in tropical Norfolk 

David

[Brian Ellis]

tropical Norfolk

Yeah, I wish

Glad to see yours are both into action, nobody was as surprised as me to see it in flower as it was in the shade down the side of the house in a lattice pot!

[snowdropman]

tilebarn must be quite tough! which is very good to know, it also seems to increase well

'Tilebarn Jamie' does indeed increase well, but very quickly becomes congested and this results in the plants producing plenty of leaf, but not many flowers. I lift my 'Tilebarn Jamie' and split the bulbs every 2 years, which seems to keep them flowering well.

[Brian Ellis]

Yes Rob they certainly are little miracles!

Thanks for the tip Chris will certainly follow your advice.

[Hagen Engelmann]

Last days we had a lot of rain. Today on sunny Saturday I looked for the autumn-snowdrops. Here is the first G.peshmenii out of the ground. Mean, I can see the the green tips?!?!

Sorry all, the real opener of the season is Galanthus reginæ-olgæ 'Tilebarn Jamie' of Brian Ellis. I haven`t seen his post early enough! Sorry Brian

[art600]

Hagen

It is there - look closer 

[Hans J]

  Hagen , which sunny Saturday 

here looks as first G. reg. olg f. corcyrensis from the ground ...but I not going outside ....to much rain 

[Hagen Engelmann]

Just for you Rob!  Yesterday I looked at the pots and saw Galanthus reginæ-olgæ 'Tilebarn Jamie' was in bud.  Today it's first scape has opened.  The leaves and second scape (I hope) are yet to emerge.  I hope yours are not too far behind.

Hi all!

Here is the real opener of the season. I do not want ignore this post of Brian. Sorry so much

How can I di it into the other topic???