PBS Forum

Rhodophiala bifida - I grow this in a pot but it has never bloomed for me.  From the information section, it looks like these plants require a dormancy period.  Should that be a dry period?  What time of year?  I will also be repotting it and can see that the original bulbs have multiplied.  Looks like I will have some to send in for the next bulb exchange.

For me in southern Germany they take a summer break but are not too fuzzy about occasional water. I don't think they really like to grow in pots.

First of all, I wish I lived in southern Germany.  They are growing and multiplying well in a pot but it was not a deep pot as suggested in the literature.  What kind of soil are your's in?

They are in my somewhat heavy clay-ish normal ground. They don't multiply much for me, but I've only lost clumps before to too little light while in leaf.

Mine are in a 18" pot and towards the bottom. They have gone dormant and I just put the pot to one side and let the infrequent July/August rain provide water. I used a potting soil with lots of coconut fiber and fine lava rocks (what else could I use since the Azores has few sandy beaches but lots of dormant volcanos). It has multiplied so much I need to divide and repot this year.

I have grown this for ~30 years or so. Original source(s) forgotten. When I had it in my previous garden/greenhouse it flowered every year, for some years. Super plant. I moved house ~8 years ago. All change garden/greenhouse/aspect etc. It's only flowered 1 or 2  times since being here. Still trying to find out what is lacking. I suspect I kept it moister when I first had it.

I have more Rhodophia bifida than I really need. They are grown in deep tree pots in a somewhat gritty soil. Stop watering and let the leaves wither and dry sometime in late spring. Mostly ignore them, still in greenhouse, all summer. If I think of it, give a dribble of water.

Along about end of August / very beginning of September I decide whether to repot, top dress, or leave as is.

I believe, with no scientific proof, that barometric changes as a storm arrives, does have an influence on flowering. When a storm is forecast (end of August / earliest September) I hustle the pots outdoors. And they flower in less than a week.