Bulbs from South Africa - 2010

[Hristo]

Moved from 2009!
Flowering after a 5 / 6 year gap, what I have as;
Lachenalia bachmanii

[Lesley Cox]

THat's nice Chris and very early. Looks as if it could be one of the scented species?

[cohan]

chris, how do you make out with these tender bulbs you have inside? do you have problems with midwinter light? do they go outside part of the year?

[Hristo]

Hi Lesley,
Sadly, no this isn't scented and is further regarded as being of botanical interest only in at least one of the monographs on this genus. Not so exciting when compared to other species I guess.

Cohan,
All ( apart from some that ended up outside - R.tetragona and G.tristis ) our tender bulbs are pot grown on windowsills, we are lucky in that in re-building the house intereior ourselves we bult in fairly deep windowsills, we have no North facing windows and the majority are large South and West facing windows. If the bulbs are started into growth late August into Eearly September lower mid winter light levels don't seem to be a big problem, certainly less of a problem than they were in the UK growing in a heated greenhouse.
I'll set up a short thread for photos of the windowsills!!

[pel1]

Hi,
Re recent discussions about raising gladioli fromn seeds, here is a photo of the "Bag" method I use for all SA bulb species. It is vital that the soil is sterilised before sowing.
reards, James.

[Ray]

Hi,
Re recent discussions about raising gladioli fromn seeds, here is a photo of the "Bag" method I use for all SA bulb species. It is vital that the soil is sterilised before sowing.
reards, James.

Does any body in the South use this method for SA seed? bye Ray

[Hristo]

James,
I've never sown my SA bulb seed this way, I am intrigued however by the possibility of getting more species on the go  by stringing them up in the window! Have you made any comprisons between germination rates in and outside of a bag?
Cheers
Chris

[daveyp1970]

James i never tried it like that either but never really had a problem with my seed germinating but i haven't tried a lot of the trickier plants gladiolus are my my favourates when it comes to south african stuff but this year i am going to order a lot more moraea and others so will adopt this method for them,my only question is do i need to have got my seed set up in the bags before summer so as to get the full summer temps?

[Darren]

I don't use this method for bulbs (oddly though, I do use it for Conophytum and other South African succulents) but It is a good way of saving bench space!

[Darren]

The last of the Massonia for this season.

Massonia depressa is the biggest species and the first picture has my hand for scale. It (the flower, not my hand) has copious nectar and a yeasty smell, which is apparently related to it being pollinated by gerbils in nature. It doesn't seem any more attractive to our local rodents than the other Massonia though.  It certainly doesn't attract many insects however (and there are not many around in january anyway) so I will need to hand pollinate if I want seed.
The second pic is a closer shot of the inflorescence and the final shot is a close-up of one flower. I'm experimenting with the new lens I got for Christmas and the last shot (cropped) was hand-held, in natural light, from a metre away, I'm quite pleased with it! It shows the nectar.

[Maggi Young]

I'm quite pleased with it

Indeed, why not be pleased both with the picture and the plant, Darren ?  

[angie]

Darren lovely plants and I cant get over the size , your plants look so healthy. How old is the plant that you are showing.
Will look forward to next years season.
Angie

[David Nicholson]

That's a very good shot Darren.

[pel1]

Hello Davey,
I sow all my SA species during the English autumn/early winter, they seem to need cool (not freezing!) night temperatures to germinate, in habitat they would not survive as seedlings in an African summer.
good luck, James

[David Nicholson]

I follow Brian Mathew's advice. Winter growers I sow in September and summer growers I sow early March.