[pbs] Homeria collina
Joe Shaw
jshaw at opuntiads.com
Sun Dec 3 15:39:26 EST 2006
Hi Gang,
About 2 years ago I wrote about Homeria collina. Mary Sue reported that her
brother had grown the plants easily in Houston, in the ground rather than in
a pot.
I've kept mine in a 10' clay pot just because I've worried about
overwatering, but perhaps the corms/bulbs are fairly immune to such
problems. They are listed in the Global Compendium of Weeds, which suggests
to me that they are a tolerant, opportunistic, and perhaps vigorous plant.
My pot of plants sits on the front porch in winter, and has endured frosts
to 23 F. If blooms are open in really cold weather I put the pot indoors
for a day or two and blossoms are not damaged by 28 F (with the plant
sitting right next to the house). So far, H. collina has been a reluctant
bloomer but not a total loss; however, some literature suggests to me that
it can be a better performer. Mary Sue reported that she thought the plants
bloomed better in the ground, rather than in a pot. I think I'll keep mine
in a pot for another year or two, but might rework the soil a bit. If they
still don't put on a big show I'll plant them out.
Does anyone have information about fertilizer? I've given my plants very
weak liquid fertilizer with trace elements once or twice a growing season
and nothing more. The foliage is green and happy, so I suppose they don't
need nitrogen but I wonder about other elements.
It is nearly impossible to get this plant now in the USA because import and
state to state movement is prohibited by USDA regulations. However, I
wonder if anyone who has the plant might be interested in swapping pollen
this year.
Cordially,
Joe
Conroe TX
LINK: Global Compendium of Weeds, H. collina
http://www.hear.org/gcw/html/autogend/species/9739.HTM
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