Hi Jim R.,
thanks so much for responding to my posting.
After I posted my email another possible cause (besides heat 'n' peat)
occurred to me for these 3 bulbs ('Giraffe', 'Clown' & 'Lima') to
out-perform in growth, flowering, seed production & off-setting all the
other Hipps in my collection; namely the one you mentioned...their care at
Amaryllis Bulb Company before they were ever sent to me.
I lived happily in Tampa for a number of years and still have friends there
to visit, and so I'm very tempted to make a sacred pilgrimage Down South to
tour the Amaryllis Co. nursery in Lakeland to see first-hand the conditions
underwhich commercial growers grow their bulbs.
I'm determined to get these bulbs to perform as well again in the future.
The performance of my other cybisters ('Ruby Meyer', 'Chico' and 'La Paz')
has been inconsistent in past years.
And the seedlings from a 'Ruby Meyer'(f.) x 'Lemon-Lime'(m.) cross I made 2
years ago are growing so pitifully slow; infact, they're not much bigger
than the 'Clown'(f.) x 'Giraffe'(m.) seeds I planted 2 months ago!
Clearly I'm not doing something for my cybisters (heat, soil, moisture,
light) to make them happy.
Does anything in particular come to mind...from anyone?
Thanks again,
-d.