David, I too was at Ernesto's presentation & was impressed not only by him but by the group as a whole. I have to thank Sue Haffner for inviting me. It was nice to hear Ernesto recommend the PBS wiki & show some of South Africa's remarkable bulb plants/flowers. I got the impression that many of those present were bulb fans as well. Karl Church Dinuba, zone 9a On Jun 11, 2013 6:31 PM, "David Ehrlich" <idavide@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > I attended Ernesto Sandoval’s lecture on South African bulbs Thursday > evening at > the Fresno Cactus and Succulent Society. They are very pleasant and > knowledgeable people, and I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Having > been a > cactophile myself some decades ago, I may have gleaned more from the > meeting > than some bulbophiles. Their bragging table was particularly impressive. > Ernesto Sandoval is Director of the U.C. Davis Botanical Conservatory. In > his > talk he pointed out some similarities between the culture of arid land > succulents and dry land bulbs: both typically grow in well drained > nutrient > poor soils, both rot if kept too moist, both have developed adaptations to > lengthy dry periods, yet both require a moist environment for seed > germination. > He demonstrated a technique for seed germination which I really liked, and > shall > be trying out in the future. He plants the seeds in a well-drained mix > (like > vermiculite, perlite, pumice, etc.), covers them with a thin layer of sand, > waters them and lets them drain thoroughly, then encloses the pots in a > zip-lock > baggie. When the seed germinate, he opens the zipper to allow air > circulation. > As they become sturdier, he removes them from the baggies; eventually he > plants > them out. His modus is to not stress the plants with too much change at a > time. Sounds sensible to me. > David Ehrlich > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/