Cyrtanthus elatus

[Heinie]

This Pink Cyrtanthus elatus is flowering now.

[santo2010]

Beautiful!

[JoshY46013]

Gorgeous color!!!!!!!!!!

[jshields]

I'm envious again.

Jim

[Heinie]

Thank you guys, I appreciate your compliments

[Maggi Young]

I'm envious again.

Jim

Jim, I spend most of my time here in that state! So many Forumists with such a wealth of super plants 

[Heinie]

Maggie,

Frustration is even worse than envy when I need to find a source for a bulb that I so much wish to obtain but then there are either no suppliers to be found or the supplier will not ship plant material to South Africa or it seems like they unashamedly inflate the shipping cost to a level where it is just not worth the plant.

I purchased a 9 pound box of Pumice for my Worsleya at a huge shipping cost from Canada but I was willing to obtain the best advised material to grow the plants in. A very kind person on this forum gifted me a plant and I purchased another since and they are doing well in the Cape Town environment although they have to be protected from our terrible wind here. I may buy one more bulb to complete the collection and wait for the day they flower.

Fortunately I made some good friends in many countries that are willing to assist me sometimes to obtain plant material from suppliers although it means a double shipping cost which is normally not too bad.

[Maggi Young]

But there must be a great satisfaction when the plants enjoy life with you, Heinie, and grow and flower so well. 

[Ezeiza]

Amazing to hear that you have imported pumice living in a country with thousands of mountains. Worsleyas do not grow on pumice in the wild and the region must not have seen pumice in one million years.

[JoshY46013]

Alberto,

   Many Worsleya growers advise using pure pumice and have had wonderful success, this I've noticed is the staple in the Wuzzie community. 

Heinie,

   I'm not sure if you know but Glenn Calcott (one of the premier Worsleya growers in the world) has started using fibrous blonde sphagnum peat moss with WONDERFUL success, it's encouraged faster growth by a substantial amount.  He also continues to use Pumice with a mixture of Fly Ash with wonderful success too. 

   I grow my Worsleya in a inorganic medium made with a granite mixture and my success has been limited and I do plan to switch to the sphagnum.  There are several people in very different climatic conditions that grow successfully in the blonde peat.

[Heinie]

Maggie,
Yes, I have much satisfaction with all the plants and bulbs that grow and flower for me and then the rare bulbs I cannot obtain goes on the back burner for a while until I see someone writing about them or I bump into a photo.

Ezeiza,
The Pumice was imported a few years ago to grow seeds. I purchased some seeds and lost them all before 6 months. You know what it is like to find something very rare and you read about all the special mediums or growing conditions for the plants as a in-experienced grower of a specific plant. I have never tried Worsleya seeds again.

Josh,
The Sphagnum Peat Moss is a medium that was discussed only in the last year or so and I never knew about it. It became "freely" available here only about 2 years ago. I read about Dale Guthrie's success who is the person that started growing in Canadian Sphagnum Peat. I placed some in the bottom half of the pots and they are doing well. I read all his posts on the Worsleya Forum with great interest. He is from South Africa. I am completely comfortable with growing Worsleya now and will try my hand with seeds again when I can find and buy a few again.

Due to our well known south easterly wind in Cape Town it is not favourable to grow Worsleya outside in the open. I grew them inside for a period but they were not doing that well until I moved them to my large shade house amongst my Clivias in the warmest part of the shade house. They are thriving now.

Since getting to know Sphagnum Peat I germinate and grow a wide variety of seeds in it over the last year or so with huge success. That includes Hippeastrum seeds and growing in it for about 6 months before potting them in pots singularly.

[Ezeiza]

Heinie, Worsleyas grow on quite open mountain slopes exposed to the wind but of course in a hot climate.

The thin layer of soil they grow in is a mixture of crushed rock (weathered,that is, looking like really coarse sand) with a fibrous loam made up by decomposition of surrounding weeds. Occasionally there is a fire so some charcoal would make for it. They have a huge root system clinging to the rock surface and extending a good distance from the mother bulb. Roots therefore are accostumed to a well aireated porous soil. The success of some growers with this rare plant is due to their climatic conditions and not to the often silly recommendations on concoctions seen around. The plants grow in barren, windy, conditions and the soil porousity is the main thing to respect. These mountains or hills look smooth, like a bald man's head.

[PeterT]

Would you not agree though, Alberto, that the degree of humidity is also a vital componant, and the concocted growing medium can help compensate if a plant is in too dry or damp an atmosphere for it's liking.
I am a novice with these plants, but perhaps the winds Heinies garden gets are drier (and more drying) than in a Worsleyas' native habitat?
Or perhaps Heinies south wind comes from the antartic and is too cold for the Worsleya?

[Ezeiza]

"Or perhaps Heinies south wind comes from the antartic and is too cold for the Worsleya?"

That's right, Peter, Heinie and I are considerably to the south of Worsleya habitat. Besides being in the subtropics, the plants grow on steep slopes in full sun and the hot ascending currents are nothing like a wind from the ocean. The region is not of jungle as with several of the Brazilian Hippeastrums but a more open seasonal dry low dense vegetation.