Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Pleione and Orchidaceae => Topic started by: Kevin on January 29, 2011, 04:54:35 PM
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Hi to all Pleione growers!
I've just potted up my new Pleione Zeus Weinstein as the new shoot was starting to increase in size. I had a look at the other Pln which have been overwintering in the fridge and I found that my Pln formosana 'Clare' were also starting to grow too so I've potted them up too. I've foud that they are always the first to start off the season for me.
My question to you is... what's happening with your collection? Do you keep them in the fridge at home like me and if so what is sprouting for you now? What's normally your first Pln of the year (not including the autumn flowering plants) to start growing?
I'd be interested in your experiance and to see if it ties in with what I've found over the last couple of years with my plants.
Looking forward to your thoughts and experiances.
Kevin
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Hello Kevin,
My Pleione overwinter frostfree under glass.
I will start repotting next week - I noticed that Hekla 'Locking Stumps', some Leda forms and Eiger are already "on the move" - the season is nearing !! 8)
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Hi Kevin,
Mine are in the fridge too except;
P. Leda, P.Eiger, P. El Pico and P.Lhasa Blushes which at last inspection
were found to be developing rapidly in the fridge and so are now sat out in wood chips
where they will flower.
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Hi Kevin,
Mine are in the fridge also except for P. limpritchii which I try to keep frost free ,but wouldn't worry if it gets some frost.
P. humilis is starting to get underway in the fridge but I will keep my eye on it and hope to leave it for another couple of weeks.
I have a P. forestii which is also showing signs of growth but this one usually does before the main group start.
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We all seem to be in our starting blocks... ;D ;D
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My spring flowering species and hybrids are kept frost free (in theory) in a 4 x 2 lean-to against the house. I say in theory because I'm sure that this year the temperature must have dipped below zero regularly although as they are all very dry there is no obvious damage. For the last two years forrestii and eiger have led the way, but I think that formosana "Clare" will win hands done this year.
Interestingly humilis, which is supposed to be an early flowerer is showing no signs of life, but I've just noticed Maren saying the same in another thread, so hopefully there is no need to worry.
I won't use the fridge as too often the cucumbers become offensive weapons when the fridge becomes a freezer!
Come to think of it, except for a week in the middle of January when it was ridiculously mild, the temperature outside has been colder than my fridge.
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Except for the autumn and winter flowering ones my Pleiones are kept in the fridge during winter. As I open the fridge at least twice a day I can very often check the temperature within.
The first Pleiones to flower here will be Eiger, Hekla, white formosana clones and Ueli Wackernagel. Etna 'Bullfinch" which I received today from Pottertons is really advanced and already developing roots; I potted it instantly. The others are still in the fridge, think I will pot them around middle of february.
Pleione humilis and forrestii do not show any sign of developing shoots but I'm not worried as I read that these are doing the same with other growers.
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So my Pln forrestii aren't the only sleepy ones, there is hope yet.
I bought a bigger fridge last year, but the extra space (???) is used only for vernalising cypripedium seedlings.
My pleiones spend the winter in my 'office', a glorified shed, 10ft x 6ft, with a pent roof made of 5 ply polycarbonate. One side is just shelves for pleione storage, the other for potting etc, and on the top shelves I always try to grow something in flower to cheer me up and a small radio to keep me entertained while I work.
There is a small heater to keep it frost free, a fan to blow the air around and a de-humidifier. The latter is particularly useful at harvest time and after I've sprayed the bulbs with neem oil or fungicide. At that time the atmosphere gets laden with humidity and I extract about one litre of water every day, which I use to water things that are growing in there, like calanthes.
I've been potting since the beginning of January and expect to finish mid-February. The picture was taken last autumn. Now the shelves are nearly bare and my little darlings are sitting in the restored Victorian greenhouse. I hope they like it. :) :) :)
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Maren,
That's just too much for me to take in :o I thought my little collection was time consuming. Do you repot ALL your pleione's every year.
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Maren, oh to be so organised :o I potted my last week ( only a few pots ) I am not sure why or should I keep them in the fridge :-\ Is our climate not cold enough.
Angie :)
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Hi Graham,
yes, I re-pot all my pleiones every year. Ian said I should, so I do.
As a result, my pleiones are well travelled. They grow in a Victorian greenhouse about 12 miles from my home. Every autumn I clean them and take them home to be treated (neem oil, fungicide), stored and counted. I also throw away any bulb that looks a bit iffy, sunken black spots etc.
I sell a few to try and pay for this hobby of mine. All my sales happen between November and mid January. Then it's back into clean pots and bowls, with fresh compost, and back to the Victorian Greenhouse.
The youngsters are planted into seed trays, and they live in a greenhouse on my allotment, kept frost free with calor gas. It's nearly a business. ;) ;) ;)
Hello Angie, actually most people probably find it quite difficult to pin down a place in their home where it is cool but frost free during the winter. A garage is the usual place I recommend, but during the recent cold weather, I'm sure garages got frosty too. When you have just a few pleiones and a big enough fridge, that's the ideal place. A fridge is supposed to run at 4°C, so is perfect. :D
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Thanks Maren. Yes my fridge is set at 4c but never thought of keeping these bulbs in the fridge. Some of mine had shrivelled up, so I must have kept them to dry I think. I shall give them a try in the fridge next time.
Angie :)
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Angie,
Watch out, eventually there is no room for your food!!
(http://forum.flowersnet.info/cpg1414/albums/userpics/11222/PC1.JPG)
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Love it ;D No room for food that's what I need a fridge full of things I can't eat. I need to lose some weight after my trip to America my waist has grown.
I am still a little unsure, will my bulbs not need some sort of moisture, will they not shrivel away.
Angle :)
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LOL - We have had the Atkins Diet, is this the Butterfields Diet maybe? ;D
No moisture ( in my experience), I dry my wood chips out in the oven to get rid of the moisture.
I had one mix of sawdust that was so fine it kept the pseudobulbs moist as they
respired ( not much respiration at that ) this was enough to initiate a rot! :'(
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Hi Angie,
do tell us, where and how do you keep your pleione pseudobulbs during the winter? do you leave them in their pots?
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Love it ;D No room for food that's what I need a fridge full of things I can't eat. I need to lose some weight after my trip to America my waist has grown.
I am still a little unsure, will my bulbs not need some sort of moisture, will they not shrivel away.
Angle :)
Hi Angie
You should like this fridge then. Nothing but Pleione.
I remove mine from their pots as the leaves fall off in the Autumn. I then remove most of the roots and wash them in warm water. I then leave them in a warm (not hot) room to dry off for a day or so.
I use containers like the ones in the photos. The wood shavings are left in a warm room for a week or so to completely dry out and I then pack them and store them in the fridge. If the bulbs have any excess moisture the wood shavings take that up without it becoming wet.
I check them once a week in the first few weeks and then more regularly because as you can see from the final photo they will flower in the fridge. This is the rogue P. forrestii that flowers earlier than the rest.
I'm not sure what I will do in the coming years as the bulbs in the smaller containers bulk up and I need more space. A larger fridge :-\
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I just love this forum... The things you learn.
Maren yes I just leave mine in there pots in the greenhouse until I repot them in January. I try and keep my greenhouse around about 5c but sometimes it goes below that. I don't have many but would like to try and grow more.
Graham now I can see why you don't have a weight problem, no room in the fridge for food ;D I will give this a go in the Autumn. I can just imagine my husbands face when he opens the fridge ;D
Is it to late to buy some Pleione now.
Maren and Graham looking forward to see your lovely Pleione in flower.
Angie :)
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I'm not sure what I will do in the coming years as the bulbs in the smaller containers bulk up and I need more space. A larger fridge :-\
Shall I give you an address where to send the excess bulbs Graham ? ::) :P ;)
No need to make extra costs in a new fridge then... ;D
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Thanks for your replies..... interesting to see how we all deal with the dormancy issue...
I normally keep mine in the fridge too, but to date I've simply cleaned up the p.bulbs once dormant and cut off the old roots (down to 1cm or so) then placed them in thick brown paper envelopes -with the labels of course- and put them in the fridge in an open plastic box.
It has seemed to work for me to date -with my small number of p.bulbs- and this still leaves me with space for food ;D
Regards,
Kevin
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I'm not sure what I will do in the coming years as the bulbs in the smaller containers bulk up and I need more space. A larger fridge :-\
Shall I give you an address where to send the excess bulbs Graham ? ::) :P ;)
No need to make extra costs in a new fridge then... ;D
Aye that'll be right (as they say in Scotland) generally meaning - not much chance of that. ;)
But I'll keep you in mind Luc when that day of surplus appears ;)
Somehow I think a larger fridge might come first or I find a different way of overwintering them. :)
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Hi Graham I was thinking of you with one of those huge American fridges full of pleiones bulbs ;D ;D
Angie :)
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Hi Graham I was thinking of you with one of those huge American fridges full of pleiones bulbs ;D ;D
Angie :)
That would mean a new larger garden as well. Now there's a thought ;D Where's that lottery ticket?
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Hi Angie,
if you overwinter yours in your greenhouse, and you can keep it above freezing, then I would continue that and not bother with the fridge. You should take them out of the pots, though, trim the roots and lay them in a seed tray lined with newspaper. If I have just one or two of a variety, I line a clean pot with newspaper and pop the bulb(s) in there with their label. If it gets a bit cold, lay some sheets of newspaper over them. I believe in keeping it simple. Here is a picture of how I store my pseudobulbs. The large seedtray contains flowering and nearly flowering size bulbs and the small seed tray contains bulbils.
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So thats what they look like ;D
Silly question, if I bought 3 of a variety/cultivar would you plant them in 3 separate posts and give them a little elbow room or all in one?
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Is it to late to buy some Pleione now.
Angie :)
Now is a good time to buy as they are, mostly, still dormant, and someone else has got them through the winter for you. ;)
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So thats what they look like ;D
Silly question, if I bought 3 of a variety/cultivar would you plant them in 3 separate posts and give them a little elbow room or all in one?
I would put them all in the same pot as they do well with others around them. Just make sure there is enough room for the new (next years) bulbs to grow.
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Is it to late to buy some Pleione now.
Angie :)
Now is a good time to buy as they are, mostly, still dormant, and someone else has got them through the winter for you. ;)
Good thinking Graham. ;D ;D
Angie :)
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I like your thinking as well Graham ;D
I'll bear your other sugestion in mind as well.
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I notice that most people seem to be doing the same as me and trimming the roots when repotting, but my question is does anyone then have a way to stop the bulbs falling over in the pot when they flower?
I find that when the pseudobulbs flower, the new roots have not developed sufficiently to support the bulb with the weight of a heavy flower on a relatively long stalk, and they can often then fall over when transporting them to a show if you use an open compost. Very discouraging when you arrive late at a show and have to start standing everything up and packing bits of extra moss around the pseudobulbs!
Admittedly I tend to trim the old roots shorter than Maren does in her photo (mine are trimmed to about 1cm) - is this where I'm going wrong?
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I notice that most people seem to be doing the same as me and trimming the roots when repotting, but my question is does anyone then have a way to stop the bulbs falling over in the pot when they flower?
I find that when the pseudobulbs flower, the new roots have not developed sufficiently to support the bulb with the weight of a heavy flower on a relatively long stalk, and they can often then fall over when transporting them to a show if you use an open compost. Very discouraging when you arrive late at a show and have to start standing everything up and packing bits of extra moss around the pseudobulbs!
Admittedly I tend to trim the old roots shorter than Maren does in her photo (mine are trimmed to about 1cm) - is this where I'm going wrong?
I suppose the obvious answer is to leave the roots longer to allow for anchorage. You could then use something like hair grips to pin the roots in place. I don't myself and do have the problems that you suggest.
If I could I would leave them in their original pots for a couple of years but I don't have the facilities to overwinter tham like that. This would solve those problems as they would be anchored naturally.
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If I could I would leave them in their original pots for a couple of years
I'm reluctant to do that in view of the possiblility of pests overwintering. I was thinking of keeping the compost level lower in the pots, and then packing fairly fimly with moss around the pseudobulbs.
With longer roots, I find that it's too fiddly to get the pseudobulbs sitting upright, especially if you are potting them up fairly densely. And I'm afraid I wear my hair short now, don't use hairgrips. ::)
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Not hairgrips - screws. ;D Sorry, couldn't resist.
My solution to the problem of falling-over pleiones in transport (I know it well) is to screw them into the compost. Just as you would with tropical orchids with long roots, you screw (or twist) them into the pot so that the roots don't get squashed but follow around until all have been accommodated. Then you add the compost.
With pleiones it is slightly different. What I do is this:
1. Overfill the pot with loose compost, tap the pot to settle a bit.
2. Hold the bulb into the centre of the pot and push down gently while your other hand is turning the pot in a screwlike fashion. When you think the bulb is low enough in the compost, just turn the pot a quarter turn in the opposite direction. This anchors the roots into the compost. If you don't do the last counter turn, the roots act like a spring and the bulb jumps out of the pot.
Another way to anchor the bulbs is to pot without the screwing motion and just add a sprinkling of fine bark over the top. That tends to hold it down. But if you do that, you must remember to stop watering earlier in the autumn, else the new pseudobulbs will get too wet and will rot before you get a chance to harvest them. Been there...... :( :)
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As far as the fridge goes for over wintering it's a big no from me as I lost half a fridge full when it was too packed and the thing froze. If a fridge is packed solid and the air inside can't circulate it will work overtime and certain areas can then freeze. It was a costly mistake.
I agree with Maren and simplicity is best. One cleaned, trimmed and dipped I let them dry out and then store in the garage, paper bagged and boxed (no wood chips or anything else in the bags). Although I'm sure it must get below freezing at times I don't have any loses this way. Even stored some bulblets removed from the flask early before Christmas and they all seem fine as well.
As per most recommended guidelines regarding potting up, if the bulb is covered one third left showing - three quarters of the way up it should not fall over anyway. I cut my roots short (1cm) as I find this method far easier than trying to push, twist and turn roots in to a hole.
Bulblets left in the garage over winter.
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As far as the fridge goes for over wintering it's a big no from me as I lost half a fridge full when it was too packed and the thing froze. If a fridge is packed solid and the air inside can't circulate it will work overtime and certain areas can then freeze. It was a costly mistake.
Depends on what type of fridge you use, the ones that cool with an element inside the fridge can get the contents below freezing if too tightly packed or only opened once a few weeks. It happened to me so now I have a fridge with the cooling element at the back. Actually...., I bought 2 fridges for overwintering my collections.... :-[
And still I have to use part of the fridge in the kitchen sometimes. Ugly disease...plant collecting...
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Gosh, David, that is one fine mass of yunnanensis bulblets. I hope you get them all safely through the coming year. :) :) :)
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Gosh, David, that is one fine mass of yunnanensis bulblets. I hope you get them all safely through the coming year. :) :) :)
Fingers crossed, will be interesting to see how many make it. Going to try a few in sphagnum and some in different mixes. Same goes for all the other species I've got on the go as its a bit hit an miss the first year.
Pascal, I've had both types of fridge freeze on me and the costly one (lost Pleione) had the element on the outside. This has never frozen since though and I can only put it down to the amount we had packed in to it over Christmas. The other small fridge with inside element as you say seems to freeze frequently when packed full as I have a redundant one in the garage now used for storage but turned off.
After a heavy loss I'll never store in the fridge again and I don't think they need it either unless you are trying to delay flowering for shows, delaying growth making sure they are planted out after the frost spells are nearly over or live in a climate with very mild/warm winters.
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Gosh, David, that is one fine mass of yunnanensis bulblets. I hope you get them all safely through the coming year. :) :) :)
I don't think they need it either unless you are trying to delay flowering for shows, delaying growth making sure they are planted out after the frost spells are nearly over or live in a climate with very mild/warm winters.
Or you simply have nowhere else to keep them cool and frost free. I really have no other option. I now realise I probably don't need the shavings, and to go to the trouble I do, but it has worked for me and until I have no more room I think I will stay with this method.
That is a serious amount of yunnanensis David - good luck.
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Gosh, David, that is one fine mass of yunnanensis bulblets. I hope you get them all safely through the coming year. :) :) :)
I don't think they need it either unless you are trying to delay flowering for shows, delaying growth making sure they are planted out after the frost spells are nearly over or live in a climate with very mild/warm winters.
Or you simply have nowhere else to keep them cool and frost free. I really have no other option. I now realise I probably don't need the shavings, and to go to the trouble I do, but it has worked for me and until I have no more room I think I will stay with this method.
That is a serious amount of yunnanensis David - good luck.
Point taken.
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Speaking from a dahlia point of view - I used to keep my tubers in deep polystynere boxes with shaving in and never had any problems then a few years ago I switched to wrapping in newspaper and this year ... I lost the lot :'( so If I were you I'd stick with the shavings :)
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Just read the replies about repotting. Thanks Maren and David - I think I may try the 'screw-in method' as I don't like to pot the pseudobulbs too deeply.
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Just read the replies about repotting. Thanks Maren and David - I think I may try the 'screw-in method' as I don't like to pot the pseudobulbs too deeply.
You could use liquid nails and stick the bulbs to the side of the pots with the new shoots facing in :D
An a serious note if you use larger bark as infill around the bulbs it will be free draining enough and have no effect on the bulbs themselves. I grow yunnanensis completely covered now as I find they are the worst culprits for falling over when in flower.
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It's very interesting reading all the comments regarding this question. For 20 years, I've never resorted to using a fridge for Pleiones, but I suspect it depends on where you live and how severe the winters are. This winter has been very cold and damp in the period of late October and November and I found that the compost in the Pleione pots was not drying out as it usually does. So, I started to remove from the pots in late November.
This year as usual I cut the roots back to about 3mm length (sometimes less!). They were then placed into paperbags made from sheets of A4 sized paper folded into cones. These labelled bags were placed into a large plastic box, open at the top and then put into the greenhouse on the floor where they remained through the very cold spell in December (down to -7C) for about 4 weeks. They were then potted up into a mixture of fine bark, large perlite, small perlite and cut dry sphagnum moss with only the top 25% ov the 'bulbs' visible (if that!). The temperature was still below freezing for another couple of weeks and though friends about 15 miles away say they have lost most of their Pleione due to the frost, my bulbs all remain firm if dormant. the compost is still very dry and I do not intend to give any moisture untill growth is very evident.
So much for needing a fridge!!!!
Lowering the bulbs in the potting mixture shoud help to overcome most problems of the flower heads falling over, but I suspect that we will always get a few that refuse to stand to attention!
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Have you no mice in the greenhouse, Tony? I'd be worried for the bulbs being eaten while they were on the ground . ( Not that the average mouse isn't perfectly capable of climbing, I know!! ;D)
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Maggie, I do have mice in the greenhouse, but they are attracted to the warmer part where I have tropical orchids!
Also, the 'bulbs' were well wrapped in heavy gague paper and in a polyethylene box with sides which sloped slightly outwards, so that may have been a deterent!
I'm glad I got the 'bulbs' out of the wet compost before the hard frost. I'm sure the dry cold was better for them than wet compost!
On another topic (is this allowed?!) my wife and I visited Wisley on Monday (first time) and the Alpine House is superb!
Tony
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Holy moly, Tony, if you think mice can be deterred by strong paper and sloping sides to a box you must have a truly wimpish race of mice.... mine would just be laughing at you, from inside the box!
Sounds like you had a great visit to Wisley...... no pictures to share?
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Strong paper and sloping sides might not deter mice, but my four cats certainly do. Here's Toby and George standing guard. The rule is if I'm inside then at least one of the four is on top, usually trying to get through the window. The downside is the occasional toppled pot and don't get me started about the herbicidal effects of cat urine.
Then again most of the local wood mice seem to spend the winter in my garage feasting on apples, potatoes and fishing nets.
All this is a bit off at a tangent I know, but it's very wet and utterly miserable here at the moment!
To inject a serious note I've only had one Pleione bulb attacked by what I thought was a mouse. A huge chunk taken out of a praecox which nevertheless survived. Do they really like them?
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I'm not entirely sure that mice like pleiones to eat, what I do know is that they are liable to munch on pretty much anything you don't want chewed. :P :-X
Toby and George look serious mousers, for sure!
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I've never used a fridge for my Pleiones. I stick them under the bench in the frost-free greenhouse. They do get slight frosts now and then but are not harmed. I know for sure that they survived several consecutive nights below -4C the first winter after we moved and I had no heating available.
Some of mine are on the floor this year, in their pots, due to space issues and so far I've caught 7 mice this winter but no damage to the Pleione is evident. I think that it is because there is much more tempting fare on offer! Most years the first obvious damage is chewed shoot tips from newly emerging tulips (in pots), or sometimes chunks bitten from assorted Mesembs.
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I've only had one Pleione bulb attacked by what I thought was a mouse. A huge chunk taken out of a praecox which nevertheless survived. Do they really like them?
In can confirm that mice like pleiones:
1) For eating: Pleione aurita is their favourite. Because the bulbs are so large, they don't eat them in their pots but take them away into their larders. For that reason I cover all my aurita trays with see through seed cover lids until the plants are well rooted.
2) For playing with: any pleione in spring, when they knock them over and sometimes right out of their pots.
3) For being a ruddy nuisance: doing the harvest dance across pleione beds festooned with bulbils. The bulbils attach to their furs and are spread all over the place. That's why I no longer sell pleiones I haven't seen in flower. You never know what you are going to get after the pesky rodents have had their fun. ::) ::) ::)
I catch about two a day, crunchy nutella is what they like - and potato chips.
PS this is going off topic a bit, but i was answering a question. ;) ;) do we need a mouse thread???
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;) ;) do we need a mouse thread???
Probably don't need a "dedicated" mouse thread..... these digressions about assorted peats (and diseases) come up from time to time in all the pages :P
Who'd be a grower? :-\
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I had a customer complain about the fact a mouse stole her Pleione forrestii, she did not think it was funny when I replied I'd been training it for years to bring them back ;D
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do we need a mouse thread???
I think the 'thread' I would have used would be spelled G A R R O T T E !!!!
On a serious note though I did start using an electric ultrasonic device in the garage where I store my pleiones over the winter. I can't hear it ;D but I haven't seen signs of them for a few years now.
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do we need a mouse thread???
On a serious note though I did start using an electric ultrasonic device in the garage where I store my pleiones over the winter. I can't hear it ;D but I haven't seen signs of them for a few years now.
Same here. I bought one after my last cat died of old age ( the last one of four ) I haven't had any mice in the garage since I plugged it in ;D I prefer having the cats but don't like the heartache when a pet dies.
I was thinking the other day when I read that a snowdrop bulb fetched £350 could you imagine a mouse coming along and eating that one little bulb.
Angie :)
Angie :)
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Part of the reason that I contributed my catty comment in reply to the mice tangent was that I thought that the fridging time was pretty much coming to an end, at least in the UK, so perhaps the thread had run its course. In the recent mild weather my Lincolnshire based pleione have pretty much gone crazy. Forrestii have gone from total dormant to the verge of flowering in a matter of days, so have my Eiger. Sure many are still dormant but given the growth spurt in the others I thought that I'd best pot the rest up. Shame about next week's forecast of slightly colder weather.
So here's a question, other than delaying them for shows, when would you stop fridging and are there any that you would leave in the fridge longer than others? (I'm thinking perhaps hookeriana.)
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As I don't use a fridge I can't comment but I know some people do advise giving hookeriana a longer cold spell. However I don't and had 22 flower for me last year.
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Well Steve, Lincolnshire is a very long county. I can only assume you are in the South of the county where it is possibly warmer .....being nearer to the North East of the county, my Pleione are still in their winter hibernation .......... and still no sign of mice!
Now, Maggie, on a different tack ...... which forum would you like photos from the Wisley Alpine House?
Tony
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To Tony,
I'm in Sleaford, (which is in the middle to those who don't know and why should you?) My wife visited Market Rasen in the cold spell and reckoned it was 4-6 degrees colder up there, and we had far less snow, so yes it is warmer down here.
To David, I knew that you were going to say that, because I'd discussed it with you when I bought mine. (2 out of 5 flowered even though you said they were fs-1, many thanks) But people still keep telling me that I've got to keep them very cold.
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13 days from saying nothing is really happening in the fridge, I had to pot up forrestii, humilis, pleionoides and the 'Fuego' yesterday. They had made amazing growth. My hookeriana have started to show signs of growth so I won't be able to leave them much longer either. So much for them requiring longer rest!! So even if they are in a fridge it seems that they will grow when they are ready, even if the books and experience say they shouldn't.
It was late March/early April last year that forrestii flowered. I don't think it will be that late this year.
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Now, Maggie, on a different tack ...... which forum would you like photos from the Wisley Alpine House?
Tony
In the Alpine Section, please, Tony :)
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?board=2.0
m :-*
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To David, I knew that you were going to say that, because I'd discussed it with you when I bought mine. (2 out of 5 flowered even though you said they were fs-1, many thanks) But people still keep telling me that I've got to keep them very cold.
Depends where the hookeriana originated from, any from me will have Indian parentage not Chinese which would make a difference!
Most of the FS-1 I have could flower but people expect something bigger than a pea and it's easier to say FS-1. Glad some flowered for you. Did you take any photo's?
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It could be the advice to keep hookeriana cold for a longer period finds its origin in the flowering period in the wild but that does not mean that hookeriana will not adept in cultivation to a different growth cycle. I have photograped hookeriana in the wild in Nepal in 2007 where it was in full flower on May 24th. To my knowledge almost all hookeriana in cultivation flower earlier than that, irrespective of the origin. Or is that a wrong assumption?
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Pascal
Mine flower about May but also start losing leaves and going dormant before any other Pleione I have.
David
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OK, so apparantly the last remark was indeed a wrong assumption..... ;D
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A not so great photo of one of mine, (How did I not notice the label in the background?) photgraphed last year on May 24. The second is yet to open. Mine, which of course were once David's, also are the first to drop their leaves.
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Now you see it, now you don't. Just thought that I'd share the new improved version of my dodgy photo, courtesy of David and photoshop.
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Darn, the Coleman's has to go, or maybe the wine???
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;D ;D ;D
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Definitely not the wine! ;)
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Definitely not the wine! ;)
Ah, Peter, the voice of reason....... :D
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Maren I just love your picture. If I told folks that some people keep there plants in their fridge and they flower there they would think I am mad. ;D
Angle :)
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Now that's what I call a well-stocked fridge! Mine is bare but for a lump of cheese (drying/ mouldering) & a tupperware box containing silica gel & vials of Nerine pollen.
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They've gone mad. I didn't expect them to flower so early, I need them for the London Orchid Show. All the P. formosana 'Clare' are declaring independence. I've never had to hold anything back. I suppose it's a confused spring following a utterly upside-down 2010. :( :o ::) :)