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Upon depotting my young Rhodophiala splendens specimens (...all two of them!), I noticed that they had thick living perennial roots still attached to the bulbs despite being dormant for several months - unlike many other Rhodophiala species which lose their roots completely. Does this indicate that they still require some moisture during their dormant period and, when they are in growth, do they prefer a "Mediterranean" cycle or do they like to be watered in summer?Growing Rhodophiala is a great puzzle to me (especially the Chilean species) and my success is limited at present only to R. bifida which I have flowered once before from Chiltern Seeds. I have lost many other species despite good initial germination. However, this past winter I sowed several Rhodophiala spp. and one Placea sp. in plain washed river sand as an experiment and fed them regularly with a hydroponic fertilizer. Eventually the little green leaves disappeared and when I emptied the pots a few days ago, lo-and-behold each seedling had transformed into a fat little bulb! Perhaps this is the answer? I was most surprised with the Placea ornata as I have never managed to get it this far before - I'm holding fingers!
Alessandro, that's a beauty! How old is the plant?Did those seeds reach you Rogan?
I received my SRGC seed today. A package of Rhodophiala sp. ex BCW5132 was great to get. Does anyone have any information on this plant and who the collectors were? johnw - a balmy -11c at 23.12 after last night's horrors.