cyps in pots 2012

[Stephen Vella]

Angie,

I Maybe able to help you there.epsom salts is a micro nutrient so you only need to add a little..1/5 teaspoon(what's the recommended dose on packet) and I would add it to a 10 liter watering can and water the foliage and soil and use the 10 liters around other plants, the one pot of Cyp doesn't need drowning of the stuff, give it 1 litre and if your worried about overdosing give the cyp just water over the leaves and soil of 1  liter, it only takes a little to make a difference.its best to start off a little and see how the plant responds..i don't think you can kill a plant with this method it works on rhododendrons like a treat. And look out for greener leaves in 2/3 weeks. And maybe look to see if the fertilizer your using has various micro nutrients found in tomatoe feed as David uses or a complete fertiliser for orchids,1/2 dose for hybris an 1/4 for species and you may have a greener looking cyp 
See what Maren would say

[angie]

Thanks Stephen, the packet says to use 3/4 oz per sq.yd for flowers or foliage. It says for trees or shrubs dissolve 1 3/4oz per gallon. I would prefer to dissolve it and then use it. Sounds safer that way.
We have also had a good bit of rain lately, its maybe washed the fertiliser away before that plant was able to use it.
Its funny I do worry about these plants.

Angie 

[Maren]

Hi Angie,

I tend to dissolve it in water, half strength and just water as normal. I tend not to water the foliage because that makes them bend over - most of mine are quite advanced already. Anyway, the salts work through the roots. Good luck.

What you don't use you can put on your vegetable garden at full strength. Or you can keep it for a further application in July.

[angie]

Thanks Maren,

Saves me worrying that I may damage the stems.  I would prefer to dissolve it.

I have a couple of shrubs that look a bit yellow so I will pop it on them. My vegetable beds went,  apart from two with strawberries. As I hate cooking I couldn't enjoy growing veg. I have just used the other beds for all my spare plants. Nothing special but I just can't throw anything out.

I will write on my packet to apply again in July. Thanks for keeping me right 

Angie 

[Maren]

Hi Angie,

kind of you to say that.

Of course, it must be understood that I am describing "the way I do it". I can't give any guarantee that what I do will work for anyone else.

In the end, we have to apply our own judgement whether or not to take any advice. One soon finds what advice "rings a bell" and what doesn't. Fortunately there are a lot of knowledgeable people here whose advice I am happy to take, but always after careful consideration.

[Tony Willis]

I have just been and bought some Epson Salts and want to know is it used on all  cyps ,ie both Chinese and American ones?

[monocotman]

Tony - you can use epsom salts on all cyps. Just be careful with the dose and not very often.
Stephen -  do you have a photo of your red russians?
Mine are certainly vigorous. I'm just hoping that they are what they claim to be.
The growth rate is more like that of a hybrid. I'll know in a week whether we'll find out this year.
It's just occured to me that all the macranthos plants in the photo are definitely seed grown.
My experience suggests that plants from seed are generally more vigorous than divisions or imports
and establish more quickly.

David

[Stephen Vella]

David my macranthos have never flowered mine hopefully this year. From what I've read and don't quote me on it that macranthos is very variable,shades of pinks, purple and red. So is red Russian a shade red?

[monocotman]

Stephen - I am assuming that is the case. I'm pretty sure that these seedlings are from a very dark coloured macranthos for around Lake Baikal in Russia,
David

[Stephen Vella]

Well I'm hoping that they are variable because I have 2 batches 1 form phytesia and the other from crusticare and just looking at them they are doing ok but some need to be potted up out of their communal pots.

How often do you pot up your cyps? or whats the longest time you've kept a cyp in the same mix?

Also do you ever fertilize your cyps with blood and bone or dolomite lime for the added calcium in pots. I know a grower who gives them a pinch or 2 with cyps planted in the garden
cheers

[monocotman]

Stephen,
I keep my cyps planted in the same pot for as long as possible.
Another reason to overpot, as I find they always take at least a year to settle back down after repotting.
Plus another reason to use super coarse perlite - it never breaks down or compacts.
Plus repotting can take the form of 'dropping on' into a larger pot without disturbing the root system.
I've grown small seedlings to flowering in the same pot.
Certainly I expect at least 4 years between each potting and sometimes longer - I've had a 'Philipp' in the same pot for at least 6 years without any ill effects.
One of the main reasons to do it is if I find stray worms in the compost.
They gradually add organic matter especially in the bottom of the pot but the plants can take a fair amount of this before it causes problems.
I could use a mesh across the bottom to prevent access to the pots but so far I haven't bothered.
I've never added any organic feeds to the compost and never felt they needed any.
too much of an unknown quantity. I've been content with the usual white powders early in the year with the odd feed of tomato fertilizer later on, plus the odd feed of epsom salts.
It is much easier to use organics in the garden, with a bigger buffer of compost around them.
Overall I find this system works very well for the cyps I grow.
The only real problem I've had has been frost damage in the winter of 2010/11.
We had pretty extreme cold weather for a good month and it must have frozen some of the pots right through.
They were stood in a garden shed at the time but this was obviously not enough protection.
I lost 4 plants last year and had some others with set backs.
Some of the bigger plants haven't shown much definite damage until this year.
Gisela went backwards straight away with small growths and few flowers. Birgit just never appeared.
This year Gisela is 2 small seedling sized growths from 5-6 Fs stems in 2010.
Last year large plants of ventricosum, Ursel and Victoria grew Ok and flowered but didn't look to be thriving.
This year they are all smaller - ventricosum will barely appear and the other will have a few small growths.
I think last year these large plants were living on their reserves in the rhizomes. The roots had been severely damaged ( I depotted the ventricosum last week to check)  and but they had enough in the new buds and rhizomes to grow for a year. This year is the year when we see the full extent of the damage.
The smaller Gisela didn't have these reserves and showed problems in the first year following damage.
Anyway you live and learn. A foreseable problem of growing in pots.
They spent last winter in the garage which is much better insulated than the shed,

Regards,

David

[Stephen Vella]

Hi David,
Interesting to hear that an inorganic mix can be stable enough to last 6 years. I thought the perlite would compact and break down. Yes like other growers inorganic ferts are more predictable and reliable.

In regards to Cyps and extreme cold, i know of a grower who sinks his pots in a trench and covers them with leaves to keep them cool and gradually slow them out of their dormancy rather than having them out in the open that are prone to over night freezes.


 

[Jeff Hutchings]

Hi Guys,

It is interesting to read of other people's experiences with cold winters. I had about 600 pots at the nursery in 2010/11 winter housed under fleece in a net sided polytunnel and only lost a few californicum, formosanum and surprisingly ventricosum. I did loose other odd plants with what looked like freeze drying. I think I had not left the pots wet enough in November. I also had 500 c reginae and Ulla Silkens in plastic bags in the polystyrene fish boxes they arrived in. I did open a box at one stage but decided not to touch the frozen mass inside. Virtually all the plants flowered in the spring.

This springs problem are deformed flowers on some of my show stock for Harrowgate next week; whilst others are just not going to flower in time.

Jeff

[monocotman]

Stephen,

I've heard of this idea as well and if we lived in a more extreme climate would consider it.
The winter of 2010/11 was pretty extreme and it is the first time I've had any problems with overwintered pots.

Jeff- I also had some flower bud abortion last spring in some pots. The buds were so small and dried up they were hardly noticeable.
They must have been lost during the winter, well before growth started.
Cannot yet say about this year - only 1 bud is so far visible ( tibeticum 'light' from David L) and that one is fine.

On a more positive note, the three shoots ( from two plants)in the pot of macranthos 'red russian' are a couple of inches high and
I can feel a flower bud at the base of all of them.
Fingers crossed they flower OK. Not bad for a third year from 'seedling'. It must be a vigorous strain,

David

[monocotman]

Stephen,

link to a photo of macranthos 'red russian' on Crustacare's web site:-

http://www.albiflora.be/plantdetail.php?id=87

More purple than 'red' but still a nice form with nice veining in the sepals,

Regards,

David