Should I send Moraea speciosa seed to SX?

Jancy Lovell via pbs pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 16:02:38 PDT
Look good to me--I would like to try some

J Lovell
Sent from my iPad

> On Apr 20, 2024, at 3:56 PM, oooOIOooo via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote:
> 
> As above. Does anybody want me to send some to the SX?
> 
> This is one of the easiest bulbs to grow and flower in my desert climate now that I've learned a little of what it wants. It makes more flowers per plant, over a longer flowering season, than other Moraeas I've grown.
> 
> My sense of reading about it on the Wiki is that some people find it tricky to grow. I think I see why, and most of those issues are easily fixed.
> 
> I planted seed from Silverhill Seeds in 2020 in builder's sand. About ten came up. I left the plants in 20-ounce foam cups until the cups began falling apart from the UV. I wound up with two plants, which I put into their own 20-ounce foam cups, in finely screened decomposed granite dug from my property. They didn't offset.
> 
> I keep them wet to very moist all winter, until they begin dying down. Then I stop watering. In summer I leave them outside where the pots receive full sun for most of the day, all year. They get occasional monsoon rain.
> 
> They never flowered.
> 
> A few years ago one finally produced a few flowers. I noticed the plant looked far too big for the 20-ounce container. That summer I put both corms into a single 1-gallon standard nursery pot, with a mix of local clay and pumice (to make the pot lighter.) I fertilize about monthly with 20-20-20 and micronutrients during the growing season. I don't pay attention to pH, but my tap water is very alkaline and high in minerals.
> 
> Now both flower profusely each year.
> 
> So if you want to grow this, move it to a big pot. I suspect there is no chance for it to flower in a 3.25" square pot, or smaller. It's OK to get hot in summer when it's dry. I don't know how it would do with heavy El Niño winter rains, because we don't get as much as does California. But I suspect it would do well in the ground in most of California. I am thinking of moving them to an even larger pot over the summer.
> 
> Leo Martin
> Phoenix Arizona USA
> Zone 9?
> 
> Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
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