gethyllis cold tolerance (Rick Buell)

Rick Buell via pbs pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
Fri, 23 Jan 2015 04:21:08 PST

Hello Fernando--I agree with Arnold. 

I only started growing these last year, so I'm certainly not an expert, but this is my experience:

I have g.spiralis growing in a deep 20cm wide unglazed pot. I used commercial sand in the medium, which I thoroughly washed 3x to make sure all salt, etc. was removed. The medium is a 'parfait': 2cm layer of pumice on the bottom of the pot, then, 5 cm mixed coarse sand (80%),+cactus medium (15%)+a little perlite (5%). Next layer is slightly less coarse sand, on which I set the bases of the mature bulbs, then, add finer sand so that the top of a dormant bulb is just even with the top of the medium, or a little exposed. 

As you probably know, keep mature bulbs warm and bone dry as long as they are dormant. I protect mine from mice/birds/kids with a rat wire mesh over the top. Don't water them until you see a green leaf (or flower)  poking up, then water with 1/4 strength fertilizer periodically. Don't let them get too dry during the winter growing season. My pots are under flourescents, in an area where the winter temp gets down to 45°F (7°C). Summer temp is up to 100°F (45°C), always bone dry when dormant.

I haven't worked with the seeds yet, but they need to be coddled and kept damp until they're well established. I'm pretty sure the plants, whether mature or seedling, will let you know when they're ready to start or end dormancy. From what I've read and observed personally, these are best planted several unrelated bulbs per pot. Some (or all?) gethyllis tend to pull themselves deeper into the medium, so a deeper pot is preferable. I've seen them described as 'gregarious'.

Let us know how you do with the seedlings! 

--Rick



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