Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Ian Young's Bulb Log - Feedback Forum => Topic started by: Lvandelft on January 13, 2011, 10:30:56 PM
-
Ian, I understand that you don’t like these long stemmed N. romieuxii. I think that the answer at this question:
1. Could I water them later in the season to try and delay their growth until the light improves?
will give a solution. I presume you are suffering on the same “virus” as most other alpine gardeners. I mean that they always trying to get plants in flower before the others have them flowering, by culture methods as well as by hybridization. ;)
These Narcissus types react for sure on light. And when it is very cold outside we are tending to look that most of the cold is kept out.
Actually there is a simple rule in nurseries here (on the fields):
Plant very early bulbs as late as possible, because they otherwise will thrive their leafs too early and these will get damaged by too much frost and the crop will not be very successful.
So my answer would be with these special bulbs not water them in the first week of September.
You will have to find out what for the (some of them?) N. romieuxii is the best time
I have some problems to express exactly what I mean as it is just my feeling. Talking about would be easier for me ::) , but you will understand anyhow?
2. Could I be feeding them with a particular nutrient or element that would either reduce the etiolation or thicken up the stems?
3. Am I feeding them too much nitrogen that encourages this characteristic?
Maybe you should reduce a little of the nitrogen, as the 7 cm. pots stay shorter.
During the dark months like November and December I would keep them a little dryer, which means that they get less nutrition as well during these months.
-
Luit
Thank you for your detailed reply, I agree with much of what you say and I am constantly experimenting.
Next season I will try and remember to do a detailed trial with one of N. romieuxii mesatlanticus and try all the different timings and feedining regimes.
A few things I have discovered :- one is that often the plants that I water last flower first and still grow tall. Also if I hold back on the watering to try and restrict the growth of the stem it can result in smaller bulbs when i re-pot so I need to find the balance, if there is one, between restricting the water/food to keep short stems but not enough to limit the growth of the bulb.
I would not say that I am guilty of over feeding on Nitrogen as the only source of that is the small amount of bone meal they get and some of the pots that have long stems just now were not re-potted last summer and have had no additional feeding applied.
-
Hi Ian,
after discussing this matter with some bulb specialists, who I may meet on Mondays, I can add a few more hopefully useful tips.
Some of them you will probably have tried already, but discussing more often with other people sometimes bring a new perspective when writing it down.
About the feeding which you are doing like most growers would do here with these special bulbs came out that some extra potassium might be good.
The watering of romieuxii narcissi for places in N. Europe should not be done before November, because of the lack of light.
Always selecting for the best dwarf forms is good of course but original seeds or bulbs of these plants were originally mostly collected in the mountains where they stay naturally low, but maybe some collector might in future look for seeds of dwarf plants in the lower areas.
If you start with dwarf forms from lowlands the chance of staying dwarf in culture might be possibility.
To meet the problems with less natural light considering giving extra light with Led lamps for instance is another, but slightly more expensive possibility.
Looking forward to your results in future :)
-
Ian - I would guess that your problem is largely due to low light levels. Have you tried growing the plants outside & only bringing them under glass just before flowering? This is how I grow mine & I have no problems with etiolation or undue elongation of the scape; admittedly, light levels here are probably higher than in Aberdeen (I do sometimes have this problem with Spring crocuses though). As regards watering: mine are watered at the beginning of September and thereafter receive whatever the heavens deliver (and I think Brighton is in Northern Europe - just!).
-
Have you tried growing the plants outside & only bringing them under glass just before flowering?
I would have mentioned this too because I do so myself if possible, but I do know where Ian’s glasshouses are standing and that there is hardly any space around ::) ::) :)
-
This is an interesting discussion and I thank you for your tips Luit.
I gave up growing romieuxii a few years back because they always looked untidy (our winters on the west coast are usually dull and cloudy, the stems would get too long then fall over). Maybe time to try some again.
Would you recommend keeping the bulbs at 20C until late autumn? My experience is that they often start to root once weather turns cooler in august or september, even if dry, and I don't like keeping plants with active roots dry.
-
Darren, making roots and keeping dry in a pot will not be a problem as this happens often enough in nature as well. A problem wood be, when the bulbs start rooting and you take them out so that the roots dry out.
I have a few N. romieuxii and took them inside in June every year and planted them late October again in a cold frame and they flowered well.
I only put the glass on them when temps are a little below zero.
This year I wanted to save time and put just a pane of glass over the place until September and left them in their spot, thinking that the temps under glass would be hot enough. But our sandy soil is obviously to cool and most bulbs will not flower……. :-\
-
I unpotted some fritillarias over the last couple of days to send away for an order. They were already well rooted so that I had to pack them in moist potting mix in quite large plastic ziplock bags. Usually they're OK until mid Feb at least, except pallidiflora which has new roots before the old ones have quite gone. But we've had a damp summer this season.
-
Thanks, both of you, for your replies. That is very useful!
-
Just looked at this weeks bulblog Ian, I'm guessing you've let you gym membership lapse :o ::) ;D
-
Just looked at this weeks bulblog Ian, I'm guessing you've let you gym membership lapse :o ::) ;D
You'd think he would, wouldn't you? He bagged the four tonnes then he and I have worked over the last few days to get the stuff out of the bags and through to the storage area.... he's still gone swimming every afternoon.
:-X ::)
Plus of course... pay for a year's membership, get a year, is his motto :P
-
Well he's probably thinking of your water rates Maggi. It must be cheaper than a shower ;D