Tecophilaea pollination

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net
Sat, 04 Mar 2006 11:47:55 PST
Hi Lauw, it's amazing that our Tecophilaea are on the same schedule. It must
be a coincidence. Diana has already reported that her plants have moved on
to the seed setting stage. 

With the Dahlia, I would bet that day-length has a lot to do with flowering.


With the Tecophilaea, probably not. I suspect temperature is more a factor.
My plants might have been in bloom two weeks ago if the weather had been
warmer. But we've had a long dull period of daytime temperatures only in the
upper 30s, 40s and on one or two days just barely to 50 or a bit over - all
of course temperatures F. 

About a week ago I tried to nudge the flower open by very gently spreading
the tepals. But the plant waited for a sunny, warmish day to actually open. 


Jim McKenney
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where Crocus vitellinus and
C. x luteus 'Stellaris' have joined the crowd, and Fritillaria raddeana has
fully formed and completely normal flowers on a stem only (so far) about
four inches high. Iris rosenbachiana continues to form new blooms, and
Corydalis popovii is suddenly about to flower. Why are these all blooming so
early? Probably because they are in pots above ground, exposed to air
temperature which is generally much higher during the day (and much lower at
night) than soil temperature. 


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