PBS Forum

Martin

Nothing wrong with a bit of ping pong.

The hipp is wonderful.

You grow it outside all year?

Uli

I usually bake them as you described.

We have a couple of varieties here, thanks to the large Asian population.  They are whiter than a traditional sweet potato and much sweeter.  My wife mashes them and adds butter which must make them even better.

Uli

Looks like a good harvest.   How do you prepare them?

Othonna cakilifolia a bit further along.

We have 8 F right now outside.  Greenhouse temps holding at 42 F.

Good news Mike Thanks for the update.

Othonna cakilefolia 


Flowers not yet fully developed

We are predicted to reach 12 F this evening.

Hi Angelika

Welcome to the Hippeastrum fever club.

The Barnhoorn family has been in the bulb and Hippeastrum family for many years.  Back in the days of the International Bulb Society we had contact with them.

Their company is know as Hadeco now and I believe they sell Hippeastrum bulbs in Europe.

See here: https://www.hadecobulbs.com/

Here is the South Africa site:  https://www.hadeco.co.za/

There are number of Facebook pages devoted to Hippeastrum and I cna tell you there are some serious growers.
We alos have a book published by the PBS on the Hippeastrum of Bolivia.

Martin has a supply, if you interested.

Regards and Merry Christmas

 

Went to an International Market today and for the first paid attention to some of the tubers for sale.

They have produce and groceries from all over the world.

Daubenya zeyheri.

This may be an unusual one.  Leaves wit ha central mid leaf white strip.

Had a look at Bothalia Vol. 32.2 from Oct 2022  "Systematics of the genus Daubenya (Hyacinthaceae: Massonieae)  and the descriptions do not  state any    have a   mid leaf white strip.

Massonia bredasdorpensis  Two year old seedlings.

 
What have you added, over what sort of area? Reflectors/shades?

--I've added two four tube LED fixtures each about 15-18 inches above the plants.  The come on at 7 AM and turn off at 5 PM.  They are suspended from the greenhouse supports.

In reality, approaching natural maximum light levels would be almost impossible - cramming enough lamps in would be impossible. Ignoring the costs.........

--The cost of LED's has been minimal for me here in Northeast USA. I think the up front cost for LEDs is more than other systems but the operating costs are less. The idea was  to add a bit more light energy to the plants.  It's worked out well for the Ferraria's as they have started flowering consistently
 

Here are four locations as compared to Capetown SA.

You have to subtract 6 months to get the same growing season.

I think it's brightness.  I'll dig up some charts I've done comparing the 'insolation' of SA with the northern hemisphere.  We get far less light energy falling on the ground than SA.  Also the number of cloudy days can play into the overall light.