Ismene amancaes bulbs (norton cuba melly) - pbs Digest, Vol 170, Issue 2

Bruce Schroder bruceandjill.schroder@gmail.com
Sun, 05 Mar 2017 19:31:50 PST
I have been thinking about this and the various follow up comments noting
that Norton really hasn't received an answer to his question on how to
trigger his seedling bulbs into regrowth after their summer dormancy and
when he should start watering them.   As they are endemic to the unique
lomas ecosystem of Peru in which it almost never rains, it certainly
wouldn't be late summer storms/showers that trigger the break of dormancy
in many South African members of the Amaryllidaceae family (that I have
some familiarity with), although summer drought breaking rain is clearly
not the only trigger for many such species, as flowering spikes will often
appear at the "end of summer" without rain.
Notwithstanding the fact that it rarely rains in the Amancaes habitat, I am
guessing that the frequency and intensity of the coastal fogs, so typical
of the lomas, increases during the cooling months of the year - autumn
through winter.  Certainly, almost every picture I have seen of this
species in flower  in its natural habitat suggests damp, misty conditions
prevail.
So, in answer to his question, perhaps it is a matter of just replicating
nature by increasing the humidity and watering ever so lightly (misting?)
at the same time of the year that the fogs start rolling in off the Pacific
ocean.
One thing that does intrigue me about the cycle of this species though is
that it is reported that in its natural habitat it sends up its flower
spike and flower before the leaves appear yet every habitat photo I have
seen (including Norton's 2 misty shots posted on the PBS wiki) show the
plants in peak flowering whilst in full leaf.   Perhaps you could elaborate
on this Norton?

Bruce Schroder
Melbourne, Australia



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