Ammocharis 2012

[Hans J]

Nice surprise today 

Ammocharis nerinoides is flowering !

Enjoy
Hans

[jshields]

Very nice Hans.  I had one seedling of nerinoides bloom a month or so ago, the first in two pots of seedlings to flower for me.  My flower looked just like yours, which is always reassuring.

My seed came from the IBS SX in 2009.

Jim

[Alessandro.marinello]

Very nice Hans great photo

[pontus]

ammocharis coranica in flower finally here for the first time! I have grown these fairly large bulbs since 2010, from a swap with someone in south africa.  I gorw them in a huge clay pot in slightly clayi gritty soil with alot of iron oxide added, making the soil similar to the reddish iron chelate they sometimes grow in in south africa. they seem to love this mix, and it is interesting to see how they are adapted to their natural environment in that they go totally dormant when it os warm and dry, and as soon as they get water again or rain, the leaves start growing immediately, and can grow almost 5 cm's a day when its warm!

this form has turned out to be a nice dark pink form. It had a fabulous scent, but the flowers did not last more than 10 days or so...

Pontus

[Paul T]

Gorgeous colour, Pontus.  Beautifully rich.

[Hans J]

Congratulation Pontus !

which kind of iron oxide do use for the potting mix ?

Hans

[pontus]

it is powder iron oxide
, the orange red looking one, One of my canadian customers kindly sent me a bag as she does pottery, so its the same iron oxide used in pottery mixes i think...it is very fine powder, almost like flour...

Pontus

[Hans J]

Thank you for this information ...I will think about additional iron

Hans

[angie]

Pontus, thats really nice. I haven't had much luck with my Ammocharis, but I won't give up.

Angie 

[pontus]

Hello Angie,

how big are your bulbs? alot of ammocharis bulbs sold in europe nowadays as flowering sized are not, they are at least 2-5 years away...but it does depend on the different forms and localities..etc they come from. Of course, ammocharis nerinioides flowers as quite small, while tinnenea and coranica need to be quite big. There are some ammocharis forms that need to be very large and have a very large established root system to flower.

they also need a good dry rest in winter, and heavy feeding with liquid seaweed and good watering while in growth in summer. i find they do best if planted with just the nexk of the bulb showing above ground. They do also take time to establish before flowering again. Mine took 2 years to establish without disturbance in a huge pot before flowering again ,even though they where flowering sized when i got them.

Pontus

[angie]

The bulbs are about, well the biggest is about 3 inches. I have a couple of Ammocharis Coranica about that size which was sold as flowering size. The others are smaller. I do give them a winter rest. I suppose these bulbs will have a bit of growing to do before they are ready to flower. Will just have to keep looking at everyones flowers until the day that mine flower for me and thats if they ever do. Its already getting cold here at nights, better get all my southern bulbs up from under the benches.

Angie 
ps how big is very large .

[pontus]

Hello Angie,

how much is 3 inches in centimeters roughly?

my flowering sized ones are about 6-7 cm's across...

but very large is 10-15 cm's across like this one i present on my website :

http://pontuswallstenplants.smugmug.com/Other/Video-Section/12482883_SwNRhN#!i=1139613708&k=x6b8D

these forms can get to almost 20 cm's across...but then they need to be about 50-60 years old!

which bulbs do you grow? if you are interested in a swap, i could send you one of my flowering sized ones for something else that you may have which is unusual or interesting....(or even just something hardy, as i am trying to reduce teh quantities of tender bulbs i grow...)

Pontus

[Paul T]

Pontus,

3 inches is roughly 7.5cm (1 inch = 2.5cm approximately, just for your info). 

[angie]

Showing my age, still using inches.

Pontus your website is very informative and those are really large bulbs.
I am the idiot that planted my Boophane upside down, it wasn't till I saw these white bumps appearing and thought oh my god these are the roots. I knocked it out the pot and there was all the leaves looking for daylight. I still laugh when I look at my bulb.
Thank you for the offer but I am running out of space and I think I will concentrate on my favourite winter grower which is Massonia.

I have a long way to go before my bulb gets to the size of yours. I might not live long enough to see this 

Angie 

[pontus]

indeed, boophanes unfortunately are not like lets say tulips, hyacinths or even dafodils and erythroniums, which can strangely enough grow if planted upside down, as the roots still form, grow downwards, and the the shoot simply grows and then grows upwards, in search of light and heat, but also, i imagine, due to gravity..etc

a boophane does not make a shoot in the same way which can then find its way up before unfurling or growing leaves and flowering...its as if though their leaves just erupt directly from the bulb and then stay that way once the leaf fan is totally developed, untill about october...really fabulous plants. If you need some extra info on boophanes, i interviewed boophane expert Guy Wrinkle in california about them, in my video section.

did you plant your bulb 50% above ground?

Pontus