What's happening in your fridge?

[Maren]

Hi Angie,

do tell us, where and how do you keep your pleione pseudobulbs during the winter? do you leave them in their pots?

[Graham Catlow]

Love it  No room for food that's what I need a fridge full of things I can't eat. I need to lose some weight after my trip to America my waist has grown.
I am still a little unsure, will my bulbs not need some sort of moisture, will they not shrivel away.

Angle

Hi Angie
You should like this fridge then. Nothing but Pleione.
I remove mine from their pots as the leaves fall off in the Autumn. I then remove most of the roots and wash them in warm water. I then leave them in a warm (not hot) room to dry off for a day or so.
I use containers like the ones in the photos. The wood shavings are left in a warm room for a week or so to completely dry out and I then pack them and store them in the fridge. If the bulbs have any excess moisture the wood shavings take that up without it becoming wet.

I check them once a week in the first few weeks and then more regularly because as you can see from the final photo they will flower in the fridge. This is the rogue P. forrestii that flowers earlier than the rest.

I'm not sure what I will do in the coming years as the bulbs in the smaller containers bulk up and I need more space. A larger fridge

[angie]

I just love this forum... The things you learn.

Maren yes I just leave mine in there pots in the greenhouse until I repot them in January. I try and keep my greenhouse around about 5c but sometimes it goes below that. I don't have many but would like to try and grow more.

Graham now I can see why you don't have a weight problem, no room in the fridge for food  I will give this a go in the Autumn. I can just imagine my husbands face when he opens the fridge 

Is it to late to buy some Pleione now.

Maren and Graham looking forward to see your lovely Pleione in flower.

Angie

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I'm not sure what I will do in the coming years as the bulbs in the smaller containers bulk up and I need more space. A larger fridge

Shall I give you an address where to send the excess bulbs Graham ? 
No need to make extra costs in a new fridge then... 

[Kevin]

Thanks for your replies..... interesting to see how we all deal with the dormancy issue...

I normally keep mine in the fridge too, but to date I've simply cleaned up the p.bulbs once dormant and cut off the old roots (down to 1cm or so) then placed them in thick brown paper envelopes -with the labels of course- and put them in the fridge in an open plastic box.

It has seemed to work for me to date -with my small number of p.bulbs- and this still leaves me with space for food 

Regards,
Kevin

[Graham Catlow]

I'm not sure what I will do in the coming years as the bulbs in the smaller containers bulk up and I need more space. A larger fridge

Shall I give you an address where to send the excess bulbs Graham ? 
No need to make extra costs in a new fridge then... 

Aye that'll be right (as they say in Scotland) generally meaning - not much chance of that.
But I'll keep you in mind Luc when that day of surplus appears
Somehow I think a larger fridge might come first or I find a different way of overwintering them.

[angie]

Hi Graham I was thinking of you with one of those huge American fridges full of pleiones bulbs 

Angie

[Graham Catlow]

Hi Graham I was thinking of you with one of those huge American fridges full of pleiones bulbs 

Angie

That would mean a new larger garden as well. Now there's a thought Where's that lottery ticket?

[Maren]

Hi Angie,
if you overwinter yours in your greenhouse, and you can keep it above freezing, then I would continue that and not bother with the fridge. You should take them out of the pots, though, trim the roots and lay them in a seed tray lined with newspaper. If I have just one or two of a variety, I line a clean pot with newspaper and pop the bulb(s) in there with their label. If it gets a bit cold, lay some sheets of newspaper over them. I believe in keeping it simple. Here is a picture of how I store my pseudobulbs. The large seedtray contains flowering and nearly flowering size bulbs and the small seed tray contains bulbils.

[Nick_the_grief]

So thats what they look like

Silly question, if I bought 3 of a variety/cultivar would you plant them in 3 separate posts and give them a little elbow room or all in one?

[Graham Catlow]

Is it to late to buy some Pleione now.

Angie

Now is a good time to buy as they are, mostly, still dormant, and someone else has got them through the winter for you.

[Graham Catlow]

So thats what they look like

Silly question, if I bought 3 of a variety/cultivar would you plant them in 3 separate posts and give them a little elbow room or all in one?

I would put them all in the same pot as they do well with others around them. Just make sure there is enough room for the new (next years) bulbs to grow.

[angie]

Is it to late to buy some Pleione now.

Angie

Now is a good time to buy as they are, mostly, still dormant, and someone else has got them through the winter for you.

Good thinking Graham. 

Angie

[Nick_the_grief]

I like your thinking as well Graham

I'll bear your other sugestion in mind as well.

[Peter Maguire]

I notice that most people seem to be doing the same as me and trimming the roots when repotting, but my question is does anyone then have a way to stop the bulbs falling over in the pot when they flower?

I find that when the pseudobulbs flower, the new roots have not developed sufficiently to support the bulb with the weight of a heavy flower on a relatively long stalk, and they can often then fall over when transporting them to a show if you use an open compost. Very discouraging when you arrive late at a show and have to start standing everything up and packing bits of extra moss around the pseudobulbs!

Admittedly I tend to trim the old roots shorter than Maren does in her photo (mine are trimmed to about 1cm) - is this where I'm going wrong?