PBS Forum

They don't have to go through the compost pile.....   The key to success is to keep the dormant tubers dry in the substrate at a minimum temperature of 12, better 15 degrees centigrade during winter. I had to learn this the hard way.....
Uli 

Orchid seeds? Hmmmmm..... of course you can grow orchids from seed but do they mention that you need laboratory equipment to do that? If not, I doubt that they are serious if their orchid seed sowing instructions look as if you would sow sunflowers.....
https://urbangardenseed.com/product/flying-duck-orchid-flower-seeds-rare-beautiful-orchids-100pcs-pack/
Uli 

I like the idea, too but it would really need to be wire and not plastic mesh...... I put the unripe seed capsules of Cyclamen rohlfsianum into very small organza bags. But on checking them I found open capsules but no seed. On looking closer, the ants had bitten a small hole into the bag and got to the seed.......

My adult Ixia viridiflora and other Ixia are repotted every year, I use the surplus to share.
For seed I use a large pot, 6 litre, which I normally do not do for seed. But with Ixia I have the best results when I use this big pot and leave the seedlings in the same pot without repotting for another season. They flower in their second season from seed and then they are treated like adult corms which they are.
I use a well draining and well aerated substrate based on composted bark but I think Ixia is not fussy about the substrate. 
Your mix of perlite and coir which has not been changed for years (and having even added corms to) seems to starve your plants. I fertilize at least three times with a balanced fertilizer rich in potassium and phosphate and low in nitrogen plus trace elements. Vigorous plants like the Ixia may get another dose of leftover fertilizer in between.
Depending on the weather water every two weeks may be far too little. Especially Ixia seems to need a lot of water during growth, I had aborted flowering stalks when they were not watered enough. I now attach them to continuous automatic irrigation with a system in which the plants get as much water as they use, which means that the substrate is constantly moist. I stop this once dormancy sets in which is much later than in non irrigated pots.
This way I have a very good display every year.

Uli 

There are now ,,boards" made of recycled plastic. I have used them in the past in my former garden in Germany with excellent results to contain my compost pile. And I have seen the same material here in Portugal for sale, including fence posts. It is heavier than wood but can be worked the same way. And the material is strong and solid. It is of grayish brown muddy color so fits well in the garden. It is maintenance free and should last for a long time.

Hello Peter,
There is one point I do not understand in this thread. Is your intention to build a raised bed with the sand plunge in contact to the ground or is it like Jane thinks a deep table with space underneath?

I think the table type with space underneath is not a good option, certainly not if built from wood. 

But a classic raised bed standing on the ground might work very well. From bitter experience I recommend to build it rodent proof to stop rodents coming in from below. If you want to use a liner to protect the wood in a raised bed, why not put the liner on the vertical board walls only and leave the bottom unlined except for a metal grid to keep the rodents out.

Bye for now 

Uli 

Quote from: David Pilling on July 08, 2023, 06:30:13 PMPhotos of the unknown plant I mentioned at the end of June, the flowers are now opening.

Looks like Ornithogalum caudatum syn. Albuca bracteata to me 

This is the night blooming tropical waterlily hybrid Antares. It is the second season I am growing it, the dormant tuber spent the winter in a non heated basin in the greenhouse and sprouted when the water warmed up. I was skeptical about night blooming waterlilies especially red ones because red becomes invisible in the dark. But the flowers open fairly early in the evening and remain open almost until midday when the day blooming ones take over. This way there are open flowers all day.
Uli 

Hello Wylie,

That is a very beautiful plant! Are the colours as brilliantly contrasting in reality?

Thank you for sharing!

Hello Mark,

I have no growing experience with this particular species. But if it is a typical winter growing plant I would not sow the seed now. I very much understand your excitement about your success and related impatience to see if the seed is viable. 
But you might kill the seedlings this way. It most likely will be viable. Some of the winter growing seed may remain dormant until the right conditions are given but some might germinate straight away. And in this case it is doubtful if the seedlings will survive.
I would enjoy the impatience for as long as possible into the autumn.....
Smiles
Uli 

Don't know...... in Germany it has become fashionable to plant exotics like ,,hardy" palm trees and Camellia which were considered tender a few years earlier. I did the same in my former garden in northern Germany. It worked very well and I saw a subtropical garden arising in my best fantasies...... until a ,,normal" winter came and wiped the dreams out. Climate change means more heat, yes, but it also means more extremes which may also be cold. With a new El Niño phenomenon building up we will see what it will bring to all of us.....
Uli 

Hello Mark,

Thank you very much for sharing your experience. It compliments the other approach of microwaving pollen to overcome self incompatibility, however you need pollen to do that. 
So if your approach delivers pollen in a plant which normally doesn't (why not?, is there a problem with this plant?) and resulting seed, a big step forward is made. Personally I have never used gibberelic acid nor have I grown Asphodelus acaulis but I would sow the seed in the same way you would with untreated seed.

Uli 

Dear All,

Reading the growing instructions for Scilla madeirensis (in the email list)I feel somewhat alarmed because this does not at all reflect my experience with this bulb. It must be very adaptable.....
Scilla madeirensis comes from the island of Madeira and grows at medium elevations. Madeira has a Mediterranean Climate but of a soft version being surrounded by warm Atlantic water year round (it sits in the Gulf Stream, I did snorkeling in pleasantly warm water in November) As the island has high mountains it always receives condensation from its cloud cap. But that is higher up than the Scilla grows. However, the medium and high elevations never go as dry as they would in a typical Mediterranean summer.
I agree with Jane that the word baking may be appropriate in the thing the English call ,,summer" but certainly not in warmer or Mediterranean Climates. My bulbs receive summer water (not much but they do) and are exposed to the winter rain in half shaded areas. They do not tolerate any frost. Madeira is lush and green except in the lower south facing slopes. And Scilla madeirensis grows in these lush places. It is poorly setting seed and threatened in its native habitat but grows in many gardens in Madeira. There is a closely related species, Scilla latifolia which comes from the Canary Islands (The Madeiran and the Canary Archipelago are considered as a botanical entity called Macaronesia). Scilla latifolia comes from a slightly drier habitat, is easier to grow and sets abundant seed, maybe the two got mixed up at some stage. But Scilla latifolia does not like ,,baking" either.

Uli 

Hello Nan,

There are many evergreen Watsonia species. Depending where they originally come from, which means from either winter rain or summer rain climates they behave accordingly but some grow in moist places and remain evergreen.
There is a good reference in the pictured book.
I have made an involuntary selection towards winter growing Watsonia by killing the summer growers and evergreen ones with the same regime I apply to my winter growing bulbs. Seedlings cannot scream for water and need to be moved to the summer water crates in time......
My best Watsonia is W. marginata, going dormant now.
Uli 

Beautiful plant! It is Wachendorfia thyrsiflora. There is another Wachendorfia species (W. paniculata) but it is much smaller. 

Uli