South African Bulbs 2013

[Maggi Young]

Maggi :

"Wer ko ,der ko" 

Hans 

    Immer!

[Maggi Young]

Congratulations Hans,

it is the second time I see it flowering in about 10 years!

Good to see you Renate - hope the new nursery site is doing well and now looks less like a carrot field!
For those who do not know Renate - this is her website : http://www.pflanze-und-co.de     

[Hans J]

    Immer!

Ah ..Maggi 
You know this story ....oh this Bavarians ...

Do you know also this ?
Lacha müßad I wenn I lacha müßad !

Hans

[Maggi Young]

Ah ..Maggi 
You know this story ....oh this Bavarians ...

Do you know also this ?
Lacha müßad I wenn I lacha müßad !

Hans

 Oh no, that is too difficult for me.     I'm thinking......

"I'll laugh when I find it funny "   - which makes e think of our saying " when you've got to go , you've got to go" 

[Hans J]

Maggi

I have tried to find a Translation ..but it is diificould - maybe :

"I would laugh if I should laugh "
...similar like "It's not over till it's over"

Hans

[Hans J]

Hi all ,

here are some words from me to this theory that the South African bulb plants like not Phosphorus :
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=10086.msg282643#msg282643

please look here for some pics of my plants ( Haemanthus ) -they are all fertilized with Phostrogen !

With this fertilizer I have also excellent results with my Massonia ,Agapanthus and many others ....

I have simply no chance to buy here in Germany any soil or fertilizer without any Phosphorus...

Hans

[johnw]

Well only took 20 years to flower but now I wonder is it really Amaryllis belladonna 'Johnannesburg'?  Perhaps the colour will improve.  The bulbs are about the size of tennis balls & I kept them slightly moist through the summer.  I wonder how their hardiness compares with Nerine bowdenii?

Maybe this will be the year Lycoris radiata -  a youngish 38 year old -  will flower.

johnw

[johnw]

I am almost out of Phostrogen and have not seen it for sale in Canada for years now, ever since Wilson's gave up distributing it.  Any Canadians seen it about?

johnw

[jshields]

The Phostrogen analysis seems idea for almost all bulbs, but I can't usually find a fertilizer with that composition.  I have ended up using Jack's Professional 20-10-20 for many years with no obvious ill affects on Haemanthus, narrow-leaved Nerine, Crinum, and various other genera of South African bulbs.  I do however use a potting mix that would not retain phosphate anyway:  Promix + sand + granite grit.

For broad-leaved Nerine, I use a zero-nitrogen blended soluble fertilizer.  I have had to make that one up myself in recent years.  I may have to go to plain potassium sulfate.

Jim

[François Lambert]

Hi everybody,

I have plans to adopt 1 Lachenalia.  But which one should I take out of all the species ?  Can anybody give me some advise ?

My wishes for this Lachenalia : not too small (otherwise my cats will sit on the pot, which is not good for any plant), vigorous grower & long lasting flowers.  The time of flowering is not relevant to me.

The location where it will grow : Windowsill oriented towards the West.  Rather constant day temperature of +/- 16°C, a few degrees less at night, from time to time day temperature interrupted by an increase towards 20°C when we are using the room.  I do have a hotter environment to store it during the summer dormancy.

Or is this too warm for a Lachenalia to thrive well as I read some people barely keep them frost free during winter ?

thanks for any advise on this !

François

[johnw]

François

My Quadricolors did much better when they were growing at 4-8c in the cool greenhouse.  When I moved them to a wam winter greenhouse 15-25c the flowers do not last and the growth is weak.  That has also thrown their timing off - bone-dry they leafed out 2 weeks ago here when they should be completely dormant. So now what to do? Water in this summery weather may cause bulb rot.  I am in a predicament.  I would assume trickier species like viridiflora etc. would not tolerate this kind of abuse especially when young.

Bottom line - a long cold, frost-free growing period and evenly moist was best for Quadricolor.

johnw

[SJW]

Hi François

I agree with John, I think your main problem will be keeping the bulbs cool enough during the growing season: 16c at night is too warm - they'll do better at 10C and under. The other issue is winter light levels in the northern hemisphere. I find Lachenalias can get a bit drawn/etiolated grown in a northern England greenhouse and your house windowsill would have, I assume, even less light? Still, nothing ventured...perhaps try one of the more common (ie cheaper!) types such as aloides? Alternatively, would you consider any of the Lachenalia hybrids grown specifically for the houseplant market? The South African Agricultural Research Council has done most of the work on this, I think, and I've found this article which may be of interest: http://www.arc.agric.za/home.asp?PID=824&ToolID=63&ItemID=2579.
As you'll see, ARC has European agents, eg in Holland it's this company: http://www.vdvossen.nl/producten/producten_en.html.

I think I've read on the forum, though, that the hybrids are prone to virus? Whether you go for species or hybrid you'll need good winter light and cool conditions.

Best wishes

Steve

[johnw]

Steve  - Here is Quadricolor on its best before date - 5th February.  After that the sun here at latitude 44 elevates temperatures above 10c in the greenhouse and the flower stalks flop.

john

[johnw]

And the Amaryllis belladonna 'Johannesburg' is a bit pinker by the day.

johnw

[SJW]

Good looking plants, John. And your post made me check the latitude of my location (53/54 parallel N) and marvel at the size of Canada, from 43rd up to the Arctic!