Haemanthus 2011

[jshields]

Calvin, a lot of my stuff came as seed from Rachel Saunders near Cape Town.
Jim

[Calvin Becker]

Thanks Jim, I must make a habit of checking her website regularly then.

[JoshY46013]

Calvin, send her an email and ask to be put on her Amaryllid Seed List!

[Calvin Becker]

Will do!

[PeterT]

Cameron McMaster and Dawie Human also supply some Haemanthus Calvin. Also they turn up in cactus and succulent nurseries.
Hope you are well
Peter

[ArnoldT]

Haemanthus barkerae

[Ali Baba]

I have a nice multiheaded plant of Haemanthus coccineus in flower at the moment. Anyone else live within easy postal distance who would like to exchange pollen?
Have posted this in the seed wanted section too, thought it might get noticed better here...

[Maggi Young]

Welcome to the Forum, Ali Baba ..... your arrival has already been noted ....
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6453.msg213677#msg213677     

[jshields]

I have a nice multiheaded plant of Haemanthus coccineus in flower at the moment. Anyone else live within easy postal distance who would like to exchange pollen?
Have posted this in the seed wanted section too, thought it might get noticed better here...

Welcome to the Forum.  Where is "here?"  I should have several coccineus in bloom in another month.

Jim

[Tony Willis]

Haemanthus albiflos in flower at the moment

[Ali Baba]

Welcome to the Forum.  Where is "here?"  I should have several coccineus in bloom in another month.

Jim

Thanks, "here" is Derby UK. I fear another month will be too late for me as the older blooms are fading and the two youngest heads will be over in a week or so I guess...

[jshields]

Welcome to the Forum.  Where is "here?"  I should have several coccineus in bloom in another month.

Jim

Thanks, "here" is Derby UK. I fear another month will be too late for me as the older blooms are fading and the two youngest heads will be over in a week or so I guess...

Maybe next year.

Bernie recently did a fine job of collecting pollen of namaquensis and sending it to me from Germany.  I'll see in a few weeks whether it worked on my plant of namaquensis.  But pollen collection, proper drying, and shipping are perfectly feasible for Haemanthus.  I have not done a careful test to see how long such pollen remains viable when stored in a freezer.  Bernie's namaquensis pollen is however in the freezer as I write.

Unfortunately, I don't have any stored pollen of coccineus that is younger than a couple of years, and hence very unlikely to still be viable -- if it has not already been cleaned out of the freezer.

Jim

[jshields]

We have had two seasonably cool, or even unseasonably cool nights now, and in the greenhouse there are colorful tips of noses of new blooms showing in the necks of many of my Haemanthus [barkerae x coccineus] and [coccineus x barkerae] bulbs.  Those crosses were made in 2005, and most of them bloomed last year for the first time.  I attribute that relatively quick seed-to-bloom progression to hybrid vigor.  They are mostly significantly larger than barkerae, with orange to red-orange inflorescences.  There are also numerous pink noses showing in the necks of the barkerae bulbs, but only one lone coccineus is so far showing any color.

Jim

[Ali Baba]

Ah well, I guess our seasons are out of kilter. We had some cool days here in August and the blooms came up like rockets once watered.
I have dried and sent pollen of Hechtia to Thailand to make bromeliad hybrids, which worked very well, but like you I havent tested the long term viability of frozen pollen. I have kept donated pollen in the frezzer for a few weeks to make Dyckia hybrids, which worked fine.

[santo2010]

In my experience Pollen can stay viable for some years. I haven't made a record of fertility, but it seems to work well, at least I can tell for some species and for two years for sure. It need to be kept dry at the refrigerator. And you need to have it in some recipe that you can let warm without opening when you want to use it. If not humidity will boil down in it. I have been using Sprekelia, Hippeastrum, Hemerocallis, Iris, and in little amounts many more, stored that way.