[pbs] Question about fire and bulbs
J.E. Shields
jshields at indy.net
Thu Oct 12 09:00:58 EDT 2006
Hi all,
It is also my experience, although I've never made a systematic comparison,
that fire is not needed for most South African bulbs that I've tried to grow.
In getting bulbs to flower (in pots, in my case) time and size are the two
critical factors. Sunshine and fertilizer are the cultural factors that
contribute most to flowering.
When it comes to germinating seeds of South African bulbs, one of the most
important factors is the need for temperature fluctuations between day and
night. The diurnal temperature cycle may be all-important, in fact. For
this reason I tend to germinate South African seeds either outdoors in
spring and autumn, or in the greenhouse. They do not germinate well
indoors in an air-conditioned/heated house under lights, where the
temperature variation from day to night is no more than ca. 5 Fahrenheit
degrees, or about 2 Celsius degrees. This does not of course apply to the
fleshy seeds of Amaryllis Family plants like Crinum, Clivia, Haemanthus,
Hymenocallis, etc., which are "recalcitrant" (i.e., cannot go dormant).
Jim Shields
in frosty central Indiana (USA) where the temperature dropped to 29°F
(ca. -2°C) this morning.
At 10:30 AM 10/12/2006 +1000, Bill wrote:
>Mary, Brian,
>.............
>I have tried both. A few years ago I did some tests with smoke and all of
>the species of bulbs I grow germinated and flowered quite well without any
>treatment.
>.........
>Bill Richardson,
*************************************************
Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA
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