Dear all:
Robin, it is always good to hear of the Romulea king. Yes,
Sinningia tubiflora is one of the most beautiful South American bulbous
plants. I have seen them growing in several environments
1) An area of summer rainfall in central Argentina, where Hippeastrum
parodii used to grow. Full sun and an incredibly mellow soil like what you
can find in an old forest in thick layers. The area is quite dry and hot and
rain falls from mid Spring to late Autumn. Therefore very winter dry. Tubers
were 10 cm deep.
2) An area in eastern Argentina in gravelly soil, from rice grain to hen
size sizes. Full sun and almost frost free winters. Rain falls almost the
year round except for one month in late summer. It is a summer grower here
too. Tubers were 2 cm deep.
3) An area in NE Argentina where it grows in a sort of chaparral beneath
spiny shrubs. The area is hot and the soil is acid and powder like. Here it
grows in shade but also moves to neighboring pastures where from the
distance they look like large flowered white hybrid Penstemons. Here it
receives year round rains but it is a summer grower too. Here it grows with
the upper third of the tuber above soil level.
Therefore, it is a spring-summer-autumn grower and winter dormant. Full sun
seems to be the normal light requirement. Most of us would think it is a
forest dweller like so many of the other gesneriads. Very good drainage
seems to be very important and where the soil is heavier, the tubers are
partly out of the ground. These can attain a big size, say 10 cm in
diameter. Another thing worth mentioning is that new tubers form at the end
of long runners, always at a distance from the mother one. This seems to be
a mechanism to avoid disease, because I have heard of a number of cases in
which this superb plant increased in cultivation to a clump of many tubers
and then all succumbed at once. With their normal rate of propagation they
should be a weed everywhere and obviously are not. I would suggest a yearly
repotting in which all the offsets are removed to other pots as a means of
avoiding disease propagation. In other words, in nature they are always at a
distance from their kin . Foliage is hairy and grey suggesting it has a good
resistance to drought, therefore it is better to avoid watering the leaves.
As for the flowers, a well grown plant will produce several spikes but faded
flowers must be removed at once (besides, why to wait for seed when tubers
are produced abundantly?).
The scent is overpowering and yes they are pollinated by moths.
Regards,
Alberto