rainlilies, pots, grasshoppers

Kelly Irvin bulbmeister@bulbmeister.com
Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:46:09 PDT
Grasshoppers are my biggest pest problem in the nursery, including 
potted bulbs and Lycoris flower stalks in the beds. I've seen the black 
ones in east Texas when I was a boy, but these are the regular ol' light 
brown/yellow ones. I've just ordered a bunch of semaspore to see if I 
can get some control. I expect it to be difficult, though, since I can't 
really contain the "site". It did help me one year in my winter house, 
though, so I am hopeful.

A scientist like myself is intrigued by rain lilies in pots, because you 
can experiment with forcing bloom, not relying on nature to give you the 
occasional bloom. It has been several years since I took a scientific 
approach. I think I let the listserv for IBS know about it at the time, 
but I can't find the info. If I recall correctly, a good rule of thumb 
was to water regularly for 6-8 (4-6?) weeks during the growing season, 
then completely withhold water for 3-4? weeks. The next time I started 
watering again, I got a bunch of blooms in a day or two. These were 
greenhouse conditions, so nature could not interrupt the "scientific" 
process. ;)

The described method, or something akin to it would give me more bloom 
periods in the season than just keeping them watered regularly. It seems 
that regular watering encourages bulb division (increase), but more 
flowering can mean more seed (increase). So, if you want to get a bunch 
more bulbs of the exact same thing, bring on the water hose, but if you 
want to play *od and make babies of different colors and shapes, 
practice some "science" with your rain lilies.

Mr. Kelly M. Irvin
The Bulbmeister
10846 Hodge Ln
Gravette, AR 72736
479-366-4968

USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 6b

E-mail: mailto:bulbmeister@bulbmeister.com
Website: http://www.bulbmeister.com/
Forum: http://www.bulbmeister.com/forum/


Joe Shaw wrote:
> They don't have many problems, even with my small pots and stingy watering 
> schedule.  However, they are devoured by the Eastern Lubber Grasshopper, 
> which are truly beautiful but alien-looking insects.


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