Mary Sue & Lee, I very much appreciate your advice. It will definitely influence my upcoming potting plans. My watering compulsion does not lend itself to small pots in this situation. I'll stick to bonsai succulents for those pots, plant large .mostly, for bulbs, and continue my research. I am very grateful for the help from PBS members. Tom John On Sun, Aug 26, 2018 at 5:49 PM <pbs-request@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > Send pbs mailing list submissions to > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > pbs-request@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > pbs-owner@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of pbs digest..." > > > List-Post:<mailto:pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > List-Archive:<http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: pbs Digest, Vol 18, Issue 29 (oooOIOooo) > 2. Pot sizes for South African oxalis (Mary Sue Ittner) > 3. Re: pbs Digest, Vol 18, Issue 29 (Jocelyn Ryan) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2018 19:11:58 +0000 > From: oooOIOooo <oooOIOooo@protonmail.ch> > To: pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > Subject: Re: [pbs] pbs Digest, Vol 18, Issue 29 > Message-ID: > > <t55_wUJtZNLq9D_ousY-bhbhU-visqN3_LilrQ3T7nyEAEM4q8Xoa0Q9W7_wLs6EIJydMmlbLqmPGqYx8TzfgjuwadOYwHr4Q-habIMTo18=@ > protonmail.ch> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > Tom John wrote > > > I am a newly converted South African geophyte enthusiast with a large > order of Oxalis & other Winter growers ready to pot up. I had envisioned > potting some of the smaller varieties in 3" [7.5cm] deep bonsai type > pots.... ...recommendations otherwise as to optimal depth and space > preferences for oxalis, the iris groups and others. > > Before potting up you need to read how large your plants become, and do > some thinking. Some bulbs are small enough to grow and flower well in > shallow containers, but most are not. Some people are limited by needing to > grow inside a house or glasshouse. I have the luxury of being able to grow > almost all winter-growers outdoors. Other people have very limited space, > and use the smallest containers possible. Some bulbs will flower in > too-small pots, giving flowers smaller than usual, but others will not. > > Oxalis can be grown in any container, but you cannot let them dry out in > growth. The bulbs are annual. They produce top growth, succulent roots and > flowers, but do not produce new bulbs until near the end of the growing > season. If you let them dry to the point they exhaust the water in the > storage roots before they have formed new bulbs, they are gone. For this > reason those of us without time to care for the collection every day tend > to use large containers for Oxalis. I use standard "1 gallon" cylindric > nursery containers, which are approximately 6" / 15cm tall and wide. If you > are certain you won't let them dry out, you can grow very attractive tufts > of Oxalis in small bonsai pots. > > Some irids, like Moraea spiralis, are miniatures that could flower in tiny > pots. Others, like Chasmanthe and Crocosmia, are the size of small > haystacks. Again, you need to do some reading or asking about specific > plants. > > Some bulbs that will tolerate wide, shallow containers would be many small > Albuca species; many Cyrtanthus; Oxalis, taking note of what I wrote above; > most freesias; some moraeas; some diminutive Gladiolus; Eriospermum; > Lachenalia; and small drimias. > > Bulbs I wouldn't plant in 3" deep containers include anything growing to > be large; Babiana, which will pull themselves to the bottom of the deepest > container; many Gladiolus; and almost anything in family Amaryllidaceae, > which form long, fleshy roots in profusion. There are a few small > Haemanthus that flower well in 3" deep pots. > > I sprout my winter bulb seed in 20 or 32 oz foam cups. They are 6" / 15cm > deep. The 20s are 3" across. I can't recall the diameter of the 32s. > > Leo Martin > Phoenix Arizona USA > Zone 9? > > Sent from ProtonMail mobile > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2018 14:38:53 -0700 > From: Mary Sue Ittner <msittner@mcn.org> > To: pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > Subject: [pbs] Pot sizes for South African oxalis > Message-ID: <e471c95a-c9a3-4f4a-5ff1-7ef7f46c70ab@mcn.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed > > Robin Attrill introduced Oxalis when it was the Topic of the Week. His > introduction is well worth reading along with some of the responses to it. > > > https://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbslist/… > > There is excellent information on the wiki Oxalis page. Especially check > out Michael Mace's post: > > > https://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbslist/… > > Michael Vassar also did a Topic of the Week introduction for the IBS > list when I was in charge of it, but I don't seem to have kept what he > wrote and since it was a private list, it wouldn't be available on the > Wayback Machine. I heard Michael Vassar speak a couple of times and one > of the things I remember was that some of the species needed to be > planted deeply if you wanted them to flower. I don't know if anyone else > would remember which ones, but as suggested height is one clue and > probably size of the bulbs as well. You certainly wouldn't plant Oxalis > hirta 'Gothenburg' with its huge bulbs in a 3 inch pot. A few of the > "shy bloomers" started flowering for me once I started growing them in 8 > inch deep pots. Also as Mike says in his post referenced above planting > in August here in Northern California has resulted in better flowering > for the fall flowering bulbs. I noticed today that two of the earlier > ones have buds. In Mediterranean climates when everything is brown and > dry this time of year (and burning in a lot of places unfortunately) > these early flowering Oxalis really lift your spirits. > > Mary Sue > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2018 10:43:13 +1000 > From: "Jocelyn Ryan" <jocelyn.ryan@bigpond.com> > To: "'Pacific Bulb Society'" <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > Subject: Re: [pbs] pbs Digest, Vol 18, Issue 29 > Message-ID: <000001d43cd5$c57affa0$5070fee0$@bigpond.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Leo, so much information, that is so helpful, thank you, Jocelyn > > > -----Original Message----- > From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net] On Behalf Of > oooOIOooo via pbs > Sent: Sunday, 26 August 2018 5:12 AM > To: pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > Cc: oooOIOooo <oooOIOooo@protonmail.ch> > Subject: Re: [pbs] pbs Digest, Vol 18, Issue 29 > > Tom John wrote > > > I am a newly converted South African geophyte enthusiast with a large > order of Oxalis & other Winter growers ready to pot up. I had envisioned > potting some of the smaller varieties in 3" [7.5cm] deep bonsai type > pots.... ...recommendations otherwise as to optimal depth and space > preferences for oxalis, the iris groups and others. > > Before potting up you need to read how large your plants become, and do > some > thinking. Some bulbs are small enough to grow and flower well in shallow > containers, but most are not. Some people are limited by needing to grow > inside a house or glasshouse. I have the luxury of being able to grow > almost > all winter-growers outdoors. Other people have very limited space, and use > the smallest containers possible. Some bulbs will flower in too-small pots, > giving flowers smaller than usual, but others will not. > > Oxalis can be grown in any container, but you cannot let them dry out in > growth. The bulbs are annual. They produce top growth, succulent roots and > flowers, but do not produce new bulbs until near the end of the growing > season. If you let them dry to the point they exhaust the water in the > storage roots before they have formed new bulbs, they are gone. For this > reason those of us without time to care for the collection every day tend > to > use large containers for Oxalis. I use standard "1 gallon" cylindric > nursery > containers, which are approximately 6" / 15cm tall and wide. If you are > certain you won't let them dry out, you can grow very attractive tufts of > Oxalis in small bonsai pots. > > Some irids, like Moraea spiralis, are miniatures that could flower in tiny > pots. Others, like Chasmanthe and Crocosmia, are the size of small > haystacks. Again, you need to do some reading or asking about specific > plants. > > Some bulbs that will tolerate wide, shallow containers would be many small > Albuca species; many Cyrtanthus; Oxalis, taking note of what I wrote above; > most freesias; some moraeas; some diminutive Gladiolus; Eriospermum; > Lachenalia; and small drimias. > > Bulbs I wouldn't plant in 3" deep containers include anything growing to be > large; Babiana, which will pull themselves to the bottom of the deepest > container; many Gladiolus; and almost anything in family Amaryllidaceae, > which form long, fleshy roots in profusion. There are a few small > Haemanthus > that flower well in 3" deep pots. > > I sprout my winter bulb seed in 20 or 32 oz foam cups. They are 6" / 15cm > deep. The 20s are 3" across. I can't recall the diameter of the 32s. > > Leo Martin > Phoenix Arizona USA > Zone 9? > > Sent from ProtonMail mobile > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > > > ------------------------------ > > End of pbs Digest, Vol 18, Issue 30 > *********************************** > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…