PBS Forum

Quote from: Carlos on January 05, 2025, 02:07:04 AMHappy new year, Uli, lovely stuff

Is that the unidentified Aloe that we discussed about last year?

Hello @Carlos,

No this one I have the name of. The non identified is a single crown on a tall stem.

And hello @Martin Bohnet ...... I meant to cheer you up!
For lovers of cold weather I have another picture to share......

Hello All,

Greetings and best wishes for the New Year to everybody!
And some impressions from today's walk round the garden, rain announced, black clouds but no rain so far....

The yellow fireworks is Aloe arborescens ssp. mzimnyati. The tits have learned to drink the nectar from the flowers and behave like sunbirds.

Iris unguicularis, unfortunately the flowers are almost hidden in the foliage 

Dainty dwarf Narcissus romieuxii 

The native white Narcissus papyraceus, flowering is almost over 

Chasmanthe, no longer sure which one this is.

Acis tingitana, potted 

Cymbidium orchids are surprisingly easy here, outdoors all year 

Zantedeschia aethiopica White Giant 

Hello Mark,

It is a very long time ago that I have ordered from him when I still lived in Germany. The service was correct, the bulbs expensive but good. 
For Portugal it makes no sense to order from him because most of his bulbs need a much colder winter than I can provide. But for a continental climate with cold winters and hot summers he is the right address.

Hello @Martin Bohnet,
Nice pictures, the glithering in the Nerine flowers shows nicely. And I like the Strumaria as well.
Do you or does anybody else know of a Bomarea with a mediterranean growth cycle, which is: dormant in summer and winter growing? That would be a candidate for my garden.....

Hello Robert,

As much as I love Passiflora, I am limited in my choice of species. Passiflora edulis produces giant crops of delicious Maracuja fruit. I have 3 different species of the Tacsonia group which do well and cope with the hot summers but I do not have their names. Cloud forest plants are impossible here with humidity below the measurable level in summer with our hygrometers.......
Sorry about this off topic contribution.....

...... it needed some gymnastics to take this picture......

Quote from: Robert_Parks on December 14, 2024, 10:08:21 AMMy evergreen Bomareas don't have an off season for blooming...4 of the 5 big ones are going off right now.

Robert
in cool damp San Francisco

Hello Robert,

Wonderful pictures of your Bomarea...... I wish I could grow them here but several attempts failed, they cannot cope with our hot summers....
Thank you for sharing 

Its a few years back but it was exactly the same situation and has lasted for a long time. I had given up hoping when the seed arrived in excellent condition, the portions were generous and germination was very good.
So.... Don't despair 

Troopaeolum tuberosum is a short day plant and comes from high elevations in the Andes. Both factors may explain the sucess and failure in different years.  They will only start to produce tubers after september 21st (Equinoxe) which in general is not enough time to produce big tubers before frost strikes. The high elevation origin means that the plants do not like hot summers. In England the heat problem is not really present so you can see Tropaeolum tuberosum 'Ken Aslett' in full lfower. here in Portugal none of the tuberosum forms perform. The winter growing Chilean ones do well, though.

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on November 19, 2024, 08:39:56 AMAnd on that Velthemia note...

Velthemia Bracteata waking up!

A fun little tidbit on these...I found these years ago at, of all places (which I frequent so I'm pretty certain they only got a pot or maybe 2-3), my local HD! One lone pot.

...also, for a while now I've been wondering if I have these in too much full sun. They often get a bit fried looking.

I grow my Veltheimia capensis in full sun and the border where it grows will be very dry and warm in summer. But the Veltheimia bracteata would not like this. It has a rather short dormancy, I am surprised that yours are only just leafing out now. They grow in dappled shade in a border which is irrigated in summer so the roots will find some moisture. As a pot plant in a cool room Veltheimia bracteata can be virtually evergreen.

Thank you, @Robin Jangle, for this great information on the diversity of the species. 

Love those V. Deasii! They do strike me as V. Deasii, and definitely look different than my Capensis anyway. (Capensis Pics from previous years)

This Veltheimia was purchased as a single bulb from the succulent nursery in Vanrhynsdorp in South Africa in the year 2000. I am not sure if it is Veltheimia deasii but compared to the picture and description at Telos it could well be. I do not know if it is an acknowledged name so I prefer to put a question mark. It does increase by splitting but slowly so. With careful hand pollination it sets very few seeds, the seedlings are very slow to build up, none has got to flowering size so far. It is the first Veltheimia to flower with me.

Hello Bern,

I have never used hydrogen peroxide for my plants. This idea seems odd to me. Hydrogen peroxide is a strong oxidizer. In the medical it is used to clean and disinfect, it removes organic detritus, blood and the like. Or think of bleaching hair.....
It may depend on the concentration but I would worry about causing more damage than good by using this for plants. And how to apply? Water a pot with substrate? For how long would it be active in the substrate? Or rinse bare roots? 

A scene from the narrow border along the terrace of our house. It becomes very hot and dry in summer and I still have to adjust my planting in this very visible ,,premium" location. The top of the stone wall you see behind the Veltheimia is the top of an almost 3 m tall wall which gets full sun in summer, now partly shaded by plants growing at its base. But still the soil in this border becomes very warm. Irrigation with such a warm soil kills the roots of many plants, so there is only very very little water applied by hand in the evenings.
This combination of Veltheimia deasii (?) or capensis with Oxalis Pink Giant, Nerine sarniensi (already over) and a self sown Crocus niveus has proved reliable and is a nice combination with succulents and cacti.

Hello Carlos,

Thank you for sharing your pictures of this interesting habitat. The crocus is very beautiful. It looks as if this place got good rain. (I hope that you are not affected by the terrible flooding in the Valencia area?)
Is this habitat a now fallow cultivated field? 

Hello again, Bern,
What if you would repot one of these plants into fresh substrate and stop fertilizing it? The new substrate should of course contain some nutrients. Are you re-using your substrate? I went back to your initial post and feel that you are fertilizing a lot. I use a soluble fertilizer of similar concentrations but I only apply it about three or maybe four times during the growing cycle and that for pots outdoors which are exposed to our heavy winter rains. I use the recommended concentration and repot every year, not re-using the substrate. With excellent results. Measuring the pH of the water certainly is a good idea, but can you also measure the pH of the substrate? Soluble mineral fertilizers do also influence soil pH to either acidic or alkaline depending on their composition.