Amaryllis Basics II - Slivering

James Waddick jwaddick@kc.rr.com
Tue, 04 Dec 2007 06:14:27 PST
Dear PBS Friends,
	Here's part 2. I hope this will generate some comments on use 
in other bulbs and in other parts of the world.How widely do these 
techniques work?	Jim W.


Garden Amaryllis - Hippeastrum Basics
2.Propagation: Slivering Technique	by Bill Warren of the 
Amaryllis Study Group

	This method keeps the "mother" bulb alive and blooming while 
you wait for mature offspring (clones). I developed it from existing 
vegetative cloning techniques when I did one and had a crop failure 
and could get no more of that variety.

	I developed a great technique I call 'Slivering' where you 
take a sliver from the bottom corner of the whole bulb right to the 
center  You can take up to 4 Slivers without harming the original 
bulb. Keep them thin (width of one root) and make sure they each have 
some of the bulb scales, root crown, a single whole root or 2, and 
the stem/base in the center. It is like making your own offsets.

	Soak these slivers in the following chamomile tea solution 
and use that solution for watering for the first 6 months (2 bags of 
chamomile tea and one bag of regular tea brewed and diluted into a 
two 2 liter bottles of water. These 'slivers' can be planted on their 
flat sides in the garden in Florida with a 1/4 inch of sand on top. 
This will make some of the fastest growing bulblets you have ever had 
with as many as 4 bulblets from the growing points of each sliver.

	You will get faster growth if you sprout your seeds & grow 
them to maturity in the same 12 inch deep container and do NOT let 
the temperature go below 70 degrees F at night and around 80 F 
daytime for continuous growth year round. Soil is 50% + well draining 
sand some perlite  a few handfuls of well rotted manure a little 
above your bottom drainage layer which I use stiff leaves like live 
oak and pine straw. You get small but mature blooming Hippeastrum 
bulbs in 2 years instead of 3 or 4. Always keep your bulbs half or 
more above the soil as it will make a difference if the soil compacts 
on the upper curve surface of the Hippeastrum bulb.

If you know someone who bought a house in the last 5 years give them 
a Hippeastrum bulb and teach them how easy it is to grow a bed 
through the years and share the simple techniques to make them bloom 
through the year. Each one teach one.

Bill Warren                                                    

Reply to: Warren@iag.net or  <mailto:amstgrp@yahoo.com>amstgrp@yahoo.com



-- 
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph.    816-746-1949
Zone 5 Record low -23F
	Summer 100F +


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