Haemanthus 2011

[angie]

Hans very nice indeed  I think you must speak nicely to your plants .They seem to perform really well for you. I can't wait till mine start growing.

Angie

[Hans J]

Thank you Angie 

what makes your H.X clarkei ?

this plant here has startet with a flower without a drop of water !

[Alessandro.marinello]

I do not know if to have wrong, but since they are relatives, I have thought to insert also Scadoxus membranaceus

[angie]

Hi Hans

How can the bulb start flowering without water, is there a lot of moisture in the greenhouse.  Hans my bulb grew a good bit, do these bulbs get really large. My bulb H.x clarkei monocot is it the same as the one in your picture. I would be delighted if it was that colour.

Angie

[Hans J]

now Haemanthus coccineus is full open   

[angie]

Only one word WOW.

Angie

[Hans J]

 

I have made nothing special 

Thank you Angie 

[Brian Ellis]

Superb Hans, how long do we have to wait from seed?

[angie]

I have made nothing special 

Thank you Angie 

Maybe not to you Hans but to some of us folks it's not so easy to get them to flower 

Angie

[Hans J]

Superb Hans, how long do we have to wait from seed?

Brian ,

I do have some seedlings ..but none of them flowers ...I think they must 6 -7 years old

Hans

[jshields]

I think 6 to 7 years from seed to first flowering is about right in general.  The fastest I've seen from seed to flower is 5 years for a few of my hybrids.

By transplanting seedlings within the first 3 years, I've extended that time to 10-12 years!  Don't mess with Haemanthus seedlings once they have been planted for at least 3 years, or longer.

It seems to help to keep Haemanthus seedlings in continuous growth for at least the first 24 - 30 months.  I use fluorescent lights for this, in my basement.

Jim

[Brian Ellis]

Thanks for that advice Jim, much appreciated.

[jshields]

First sign of a bloom this season:  a bulb of Haemanthus pubescens pubescens, which bloomed last year for the first time.  I had it flagged for repotting and was repotting it when I noticed the hint of a bud showing down in the neck of the bulb.  An interesting thing about pubescens is that the bulb is yellow.  A bulb of coccineus is shown for comparison.  I think photos of the bare bulbs would be very useful in resolving cases of uncertain identities.  I think I'll start collecting them.

Jim

[angie]

Jim do you feed your seedlings and if so do you keep feeding all year.

Angie

[Maggi Young]

First sign of a bloom this season:  a bulb of Haemanthus pubescens pubescens, which bloomed last year for the first time.  I had it flagged for repotting and was repotting it when I noticed the hint of a bud showing down in the neck of the bulb.  An interesting thing about pubescens is that the bulb is yellow.  A bulb of coccineus is shown for comparison.  I think photos of the bare bulbs would be very useful in resolving cases of uncertain identities.  I think I'll start collecting them.

Jim

That seems like a very good idea which could lead to a useful resource, Jim.