Tecophilaea wanted

[robsorchids]

any Tecophilaea
wanted, id really like to try these.

rob

[tonyg]

You could be a bit late now Rob.  Try reminding us next summer.  I'm sure there'll be smeone with a spare or two to swap ... might even be me!

[Anthony Darby]

Ian Christie does them by mail order ready potted and brings them to shows. I got some but some fiend had swapped labels at a show and I ended up with two "Violacea" and no "Stormcloud".

[Carlo]

While searching for a picture of 'Storm Cloud' which I have not seen (and am not sure I have seen now, after reviewing the pictures google dredged up), I came across the following photograph from one of Ian's bulb logs:

http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2007/010807/Tecophilaea%20corms%20potted.jpg

It may hold the answer to the question of why I seem to have trouble with Tecophilaea. Look how many, and how closely, the corms are arrayed in this pot! I've always cosseted the little treasures, putting them one to a (smallish) pot--and probably OVERPOTTED them in the process. This overpotting would likely make them even more susceptible to excess moisture during dormancy...should it accidentally occur...

It's cheek-by-jowl next time I have the chance to give them a go...

[annew]

Hmm, but you need several to be able to do that to start with!

[Maggi Young]

Look how many, and how closely, the corms are arrayed in this pot!It's cheek-by-jowl next time I have the chance to give them a go... 

by john....

Hmm, but you need several to be able to do that to start with! 

by Anne....


So many bulbs seem to do better when they are closely planted together in a pot.... that is why Ian uses his "surrogate" bulbs..... polystyrene( styrofoam) pieces ( "S" shapes, usually!) to pack loosely around lone bulbs to "keep 'em company"..... seems to work here, why not try it ?

[Carlo]

...or small pots...

[Maggi Young]

...or small pots...

Well, Carlo,  we've found that not to be so successful... yes, it gives the bulb something physically closer round about it, but it also severely restricts the amount of soil the bulb is grown in, which in turn can  have detrimental effects on the food avaialable and the temperature fluctuations in a tiny pot.....

[Carlo]

well there you go...so I suppose those of us who don't have lots of Tecophilaea should start saving our styrofoam peanuts (at least the ones that don't instantly decompose in contact with water...).

[Maggi Young]

well there you go...so I suppose those of us who don't have lots of Tecophilaea should start saving our styrofoam peanuts (at least the ones that don't instantly decompose in contact with water...).

Yup! Well, you knew there HAD to be some other use for them, right???! !!

[johnw]

Rob - In 1995 I got 'Leichtlinii' from Potterton & Martin which has done well. However the one item that never shows in any of the orders I have since placed for seeds or bulbs hither and yon are violacea and regular cyanocrocus.  I'm beginning to wonder if there is a clone T. cyanocrocus 'N/A'. Is it crop failure that's to blame?

I'd be interested if anyone knows of a North American source that actually can produce the goods.

johnw

[Otto Fauser]

any Tecophilaea
wanted, id really like to try these.
rob

Rob , in case you can't obtain any bulbs in England , I could send you a few each of cyanocrocus , var. violacea and var. leichtlinii . They will go dormant soon , so I could send them to you then- however you will have the problem to adjust them to the Northen Hemisphere growths cycle.
      Otto.

[Anthony Darby]

well there you go...so I suppose those of us who don't have lots of Tecophilaea should start saving our styrofoam peanuts (at least the ones that don't instantly decompose in contact with water...).

Those ones that instantly decompose are made of starch. Great trick, in front of a science class, to open a parcel packed with them and then start eating them!

[Rob Potterton]

Yes you was a bit too late for the Tecophilaea Rob, they are already rooting and wouldn't appreciated being moved now. Just one point i'd like to pick up on though, we find Tecophilaea dont like a "very dry dormancy" during summer. Until about 7 years ago the stock was grown in plastic lattice pots plunged half depth into sand in the alpine house. As our late springs & summers became hotter and dryer, seed production waned and bulb increase reduced, so we moved the stock into an outside plunge frame, which gave a cooler and slightly more moist cultivation. Dutch lights are used to cover them duriing periods of heavy rainfall in summer and throughout winter. The result was immediate and positive, lots more seed and bulbs were produced. Therefore would recommend that you consider keeping your bulbs cool & dry in summer.   

[Rodger Whitlock]

I attended a study weekend in 1993 specifically to hear Alberto Castillo on South American bulbs, and took the opportunity to ask him about cultivation of Tecophilaea. He recommended circum-neutral soil, and keeping them bone dry during their summer dormancy — but not baked like a Central Asian tulip.

When the foliage starts to wither, I withhold water and put the pots in the shade until the fall. I also try to keep the pots (but not the plants) shaded from direct sun during the growing season so the soil does not overheat and drive them into premature dormancy.