Hybridizing Crinums

J.E. Shields jshields104@insightbb.com
Sat, 09 Aug 2003 09:03:03 PDT
Hi all,

I just planted some tiny crinum seeds, not as big as baby spring 
peas:  [bulbispermum X graminicola].  This is a repeat of one done a year 
ago, which also gave somewhat small seeds.  Those seedlings are growing 
very slowly compared to, for instance, [bulbispermum X lugardiae] or 
[bulbispermum X macowanii].  I wonder if they will ever reach bloom size?

Crinum graminicola is reblooming in containers, and so far I have not 
gotten any of the three bulbs to set a seed.  I'll try cross-pollinating 
between the graminicola plants this time.

I have a very few seedlings, maybe 3, of [lugardiae X macowanii].  I got a 
few more seeds of this cross again this summer.  Most do not germinate.  I 
hope the lugardiae will reduce the size of the resulting hybrids somewhat, 
and increase the floriferousness.  The C. lugardiae I have at blooming size 
produce three scapes each, and one just produced its fourth of the season.

Crinum variabile is listed as one species that sometimes produces offsets, 
and a couple of my bulbs of variabile are indeed offsetting.  I hope to be 
able to propagate these by offsets, rather than having to go through 
seed.  I think the pollinations I did of bulbispermum pollen on variabile 
are going to produce a few seed pods (actually "berries" I think).

If we have another decent winter, perhaps my seedling bulbs 
of  [bulbispermum X lugardiae]  growing out in the field will start to 
flower next summer.  Those in pots are much smaller than their siblings in 
the field.

Pictures are at http://shieldsgardens.com/amaryllids/Crinum.html/ and 
links therefrom, as well as at pages linked from 
http://shieldsgardens.com/Bulbs/…

Regards,
Jim

*************************************************
Jim Shields             USDA Zone 5             Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92              WWW:    http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344     or      toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA
Member of INTERNATIONAL CLIVIA CO-OP


More information about the pbs mailing list