Lachenalia Culture

[Robert]

Dear Friends,

I am growing some Lachenalia species on from seed. I have not grown on any plants from this Genus since the 1970's and have more or less forgotten how to grow them well. In particular, I am interested in how to handle the bulbs when they are dormant i.e. how dry do I keep them? I have read over some information on a few other internet sites, however I often find "first hand" information much more helpful.

Thank you so much for your help. 

[Lesley Cox]

Hello Robert, whatever you are told here, I'll be interested to read too as my friend Bill in Tauranga very recently gave me a large selection of Lachenalia species, both dormant bulbs and seeds and my experience with both is somewhat limited and not recent. So far I've sown the seed (just yesterday) as I do for Narcissus, Crocus and other small bulbs, on the surface of small pots and covered with grit. Though everything usually goes outside and stays there through the winter, with Lachenalia I think I'll bring the pots undercover when the frosts start, especially if anything has germinated by then.

I've potted the bulbs and again they are outside for now but will be brought under shelter as soon as there's any visible growth. A very few are hardy here but most succumb to more than a couple of degrees of frost. I've used just my ordinary potting mix with some grit in it, harder stuff like pine bark fines, a little compost and a sprinkle of general fertilizer including some sulphate of potash. The tops of the bulbs are about 3-4cms below the pot surfaces. With luck I'll have some photos to show in the spring. The colours of the range Bill gave me include yellows/orange/reds/lavender/blues and greens and turquoise. I think there's a white one as well.

I should have said, the dormant bulbs were quite dry and I think Bill had had them in airy trays for some time but they were very firm and plump and in excellent condition. I suspect though, that those we can buy from garden centres, in packets are TOO dry and have been out of the ground too long as they are usually looking a bit shrivelled by the time we get them. For seedlings I would tend to replant them right away even if keeping the compost dry or almost dry for a time until roots were expected to start, then giving them a water. Like tiny fritillarias I think they would deteriorate very quickly as they have no outer thick coat such as a daffodil or tulip has.

[johnw]

Lesley - Last summer we left the potted Lachenlias which were in clay pots and boxes in an unventilated greenhouse.  That greenhouse would reach in excess of 40-50c every day the sun was shining and well into the evening.  I thought they all would be goners but all surfaced once the temps cooled off and that without so much as a splash of water.  Bloom was far better than expected.

I'm not sure if all species are as easy-going.

johnw

[ArnoldT]

Robert:

I grow a fair number here in northern New jersey in a cool greenhouse.  My ideal temperature is around 40 F.  I've been leaning more and more towards a free draining lean mix.  Very little potting soil and grit or sand.

I over-summer mine in an old fashioned cool basement with masonry walls.  Probably stays around 60-65 during the summer.  I have  a dehumidifier running during summer months as the warm moist air entering the basement can make it rather soggy down there.

Feed with a tomato fertilizer once or twice a month.

Good luck

[Robert]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and advice.

Arnold, like you I tend toward a very free draining soil mix. Most of my bulbs, I grow in a mix that is 2/3 to 3/4 - 10 mm pumice, the remainder is half and half sand and fir bark (7 mm). To this I add a lean amount of time release fertilizer (high in P and K). Most of them do extremely well in this soil mix.

Lesley, I look forward to seeing your Lachenalias bloom too. My plants are all seedlings, so I am sure that I have a few years to wait before they start blooming.

I have the most success transplanting the seedling bulbs from their seed pans (the whole thing intact minus the pot) carefully into a larger container (as undisturbed as possible). These I grow on until they go dormant. The heat and dryness is so intense in our part of California that I place the pots with dormant bulbs in the dense shade of a huge Live Oak tree. Dormant bulbs that need a bit of summer moisture go elsewhere. I have found that the dormant bulbs tend not to desiccate when they are in larger containers.

If I try any Lachenalias in the ground or without protection it will have to be at our Sacramento home. The farm is far too cold for them without protection during the winter.

Many daffodils are tough. It may seem hard to believe, but a few times bulbs have been left on the ground in the full sun all summer. Come autumn and the rain they start growing sitting right on top of the ground.

Lesley, I especially appreciate all the detailed information.

John, thank you for the tidbit of information. It seems that many of the Lachenalias will not mind being keep dry and/or our California summer heat.