Sorry Mary Sue. I didn't trim my message and the same to any others for crowding the eMail. I just noticed it Abject groveling on this end. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Adam Fikso" <adam14113@ameritech.net> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 4:56 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] Tulips > Iain. I see that you've got a 'flypaper" mind... much like mine. All > kinds > of stuff sticks to it. Not always pretty or desirable. I quite agree with > you about researching the original provenances of plants. But in any > case: > Do not kill middle Asian steppe plants with "kindness", as in too much > nitrogenous fertilizer and putting them in a nice "bed" where they will > surely suffocate from the nice conditions equivalent to a goosedown > comforter and a diet of "sugar and spice and everything nice" Cheers, > Adam > in Glenview, where the daffodils are just opening now and a Corydalis > pumila > (?) has been open for about 10 days. > > > . > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <info@auchgourishbotanicgarden.org> > To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> > Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 3:29 PM > Subject: [pbs] Tulips > > >> Linda Kumin, Mark and Adam have both given you excellent tips and advice. >> >> I would add that it seems pretty self evident now that one of the biggest >> mistakes growers of all geophyte bulbs, indeed virtually all plants, make >> or have made (moi included) is to fail to research their native >> habitats---soils, rainfall patterns and ambient temps both max & minimum. >> >> However here's a wee tip from a hairy Highlander in Scotland, so far >> touch >> wood, we do not suffer from attacks by virus, botrytis, nematodes, etc. >> unless found on bulbs whose first stop over is at the small quarantine >> unit. Wherever possible there is simply no alternative to disease control >> from virus initially than to grow from seed, an opportunity of course not >> available to all of us all of the time, virus is not known to be >> transmittable from/through seed. I do not ever use the now limited range >> of chemical controls, except from weed clearance from the garden's path >> system where Roundup is now the only practical legal option following the >> removal of others here in Europe. >> >> You could try to use the 'Hot Water Treatment' system on newly arrived >> bulbs before you plant them, this is very effective at destroying over >> wintering nematodes, fusarium and other nasties. One other method is to >> use a highly dilute domestic bleach in warm water for around a few >> minutes >> and then rinsing them in clean warm water again for a few minutes, very >> rarely can fungal, virus or parasites such as nematodes manage to >> survive >> that treatment which for lilies is really good but for jacketed bulbs >> like >> tulipa more care needs to be taken to ensure total control. >> >> One of the best controls and protections from disease and other >> 'problems' >> is to plant on appropriate sites with appropriate soils, Lilium which I >> do >> most work with should almost always be planted on free draining ground, >> preferably on a slope too if possible, certainly not on or in clay as >> that's a fast track for losses. All our bulbous plants, whether Lilium, >> Iris, Tulipa, etc, etc grow on and in pure sands and gravels derived from >> acid granite rock, everybody has different approaches but so far so good. >> >> Some of the Tulipa species which you mention are infected by a disease >> called Tulip Breaking Virus which gives them the pretty patterns and >> colours however this virus is catastrophic for most Lilium and easily >> transferred between these genera by sap sucking Aphids such as green fly >> which are most troublesome when there is high humidity and poor air >> circulation. One control in a sense of limiting infestations, and length >> of, are cold winters however I would imagine in areas of e.g. coastal >> California it must be very frustrating on account of sea fogs and warm >> air >> during the summers because very often once the plants have ended >> flowering >> folk tend not to look out for Aphid colonisation however they will keep >> on >> transferring virus right on into Autumn as long as there is green foliage >> of any sort to suck. >> >> Miss Kumin you say you are new to gardening, so is everyone, there are no >> experts in gardening, perhaps a few deluded fools who think or fancy that >> they are, but we all make mistakes, usually often and always year in year >> out, welcome to the club, happy gardening but try not to mix Lilium with >> non species Tulipa. The 'greigii' type tulips are most often than not >> hybrids of one sort or the other based to varying degrees on the true >> species Tulipa greigii, the others using that name are a bit like Heinz >> 57 >> varieties. The other lilies you mention by name, except Tulipa tarda per >> se which is a true botanical species, if sold true to name, sometimes a >> big 'IF' all the others mentioned are either clones or hybrids grown >> under >> intensive systems majored on by the Dutch growers and they are now so >> reliant on chemicals due to over intensive agriculture even their ground >> water is contaminated with soluble nitrates from various forms of farming >> including intensive pig rearing. Best of lu >> ck with your organic systems which are infinitely superior if you can >> make >> it work, admittedly it isn't easy and makes very often for extra work but >> far more satisfying if not exactly financially rewarding in commerical >> terms under the present regimes governments around the world permit. >> >> Incidentally did you know that your name Kumin, as more often spelt in >> the >> old countries as 'Cummin' or here in Scotland Cumming, and variations >> thereof, is derived from the Cumin plant, a herb often used in cookery, >> but was used as a so called Plant Badge by that family to distinguish >> themselves during battle. More titbits of useless information. >> >> Iain >> >> -- >> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. >> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam. >> SPAMfighter has removed 66277 of my spam emails to date. >> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len/ >> >> The Professional version does not have this message >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >> http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/