sinningia tubiflora

Johannes-Ulrich Urban johannes-ulrich-urban@t-online.de
Sun, 09 Jun 2013 03:03:00 PDT
Hello Shmuel,


Sinningia tubiflora and Sinninga sellovii both need full sun. I grow a
large potful of S. tubiflora and have seen S. sellovii in the wild but
do not grow it. It grew on black rocks in full sun and I wondered how
the giant exposed tubers managed not to get cooked.
Both are easy to distinguish: S. tubiflora produces lots and lots of
small potato like tubers all linked together by stolons, this mass of
tubers will fill the whole pot. S. sellovii pruduces a single big tuber
on the surface of the compost.

S. tubiflora is an easy plant to grow, it needs the same treatment you
would give to a cactus, well, maybe more water in summer. Mine has
become best after I put it onto automatic irrigation in summer. Full
sun, heat (not quite sure about the heat in Jerusalem, but I would try)
lots of water and fertilizer, and, yes a big pot. Mine does not really
go dormant in autumn when it gets cool and rainy, so I chop off all
shoots and keep the pot dry and cool in my cellar until spring. The
compost is of no importance as long as it is fairly well draining and
rich. S. tubiflora has long tubular, hence the name, white fragrant
flowers. What it does not like is root disturbance. You can of course
take apart the mass of tubers from time to time (I use a spade) but then
it will be shy to flower that season.
A plant grown in shade like other Sinningias would like it will become a
semi creeping straggly monster without flowers. It took me a long time
to understand that.

All the best, greetings from partly flooded Germany


Uli



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