Depth and California bulbs

Kipp McMichael kimcmich@hotmail.com
Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:36:33 PST

Michael,

  Could temperature be an issue? Were the pots in direct sun? Could the sideways travelers have been growing to the cooler (or, I suppose, warmer) side of the pot?

-|<ipp

> From: michaelcmace@gmail.com
> To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2011 21:19:03 -0800
> Subject: [pbs] Depth and California bulbs
> 
> Jane wrote:
> 
>  
> 
> >> Always give Calochortus bulbs as much depth as possible. They descend 
> 
> rapidly during the growing season.
> 
>  
> 
> I wanted to add a bit more color to Jane's observation.  I've long suspected
> that my standard 8-inch (20 cm) pots were not a good home for my California
> native bulbs.  If I let them go a couple of years without repotting, I tend
> to find the bulbs at the bottom of the pot.  If I wait more than a couple of
> years, the bulbs are often dead, apparently due to running out of room.
> 
>  
> 
> I don't have the time/resources to build raised beds like Jane's, so last
> year I bought some extra-tall "treepots" from Stuewe & Sons.  (I think
> someone on the list had recommended them; nice call.)  The ones I bought are
> eight inches wide, but 15 inches tall (40 cm).  They look like tall black
> wastebaskets.  Last winter I tested several Calochortus and Dichelostemma
> bulbs in them.
> 
>  
> 
> The results during the growing season were encouraging but not uniform.
> Calochortus superbus, luteus, argillosus, and uniflorus all bloomed
> vigorously.  But two bulbs of C. weedii made only short leaves but no
> flowers.  And the Dichelostemas produced a few weak leaves and did not
> bloom.
> 
>  
> 
> However, when I repotted in summer the results were much more positive.
> Both of the C. weedii bulbs had increased in size by a lot, which is what
> Calochortus bulbs do when they are happy.  The Dichelostemmas were even more
> surprising.  Some of the bulbs had stayed in one spot and made pups, while
> others had dived deep.  By deep, I mean the bulbs had pulled themselves down
> by about eight inches in a single season.  When I dumped the dry soil out of
> the pot, it came out as a single clump, and in the soil you could see the
> tracks left as the bulbs migrated over against the side of the pot and then
> went straight down along the side.  It looked like you'd imagine an
> earthworm tunnel would look, but at the bottom of each tunnel there was a
> bulb.
> 
>  
> 
> Why the bulbs did this, and how, I have no idea.  But I can confirm Jane's
> statements that these things crave growing room.
> 
>  
> 
> Mike
> 
> San Jose, CA
> 
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