From Alberto and the Australian forum-This one is in response to a
question Lyn Edwards posted on the Australian images list about her
Leucocoryne that looked different this year. Since it has valuable
information about Leucocoryne I am redirecting it as well.
Mary Sue
Dear All:
We have grown all species of Leucocoryne including the ones
now included in Pabellonia (formerly Chrysocoryne) but never saw these
swelling in the leaf bases. From what can be seen it seems leaves of an
offset are appearing at the center of the plant. And, the stem with flower
buds does notlike like this . The first question that comes to the mind is
how deep the bulbs are planted. Chilean bulbs are not easy to grow and this
is the reason why they are not more widespread. We "go mineral" to grow them
(successfully) in his humid climate. This means most of the (very big) pots
are filled with a mixture of crushed rock and perlite aand the bulbs are
actually groing in this mix. . I would say the most important thing with
Leucocorynes is to plant really deep. It is very curious the way offsets are
formed: they appear under the mother bulb tunics and are produced at the end
of a long thread like neck. This neck travels away from the mother bulb TO
THE SIDE and down (obliquely in other words). It means the offset ends
deeper and at a distance from the former. If you plant as normal with many
other bulbs, Leucocorynes will spend a lot of energy trying to go deeper and
of course will not flower. They are very long lived with sun, good drainage
and I would add, frost free conditions. They are very well adapted to
drought and there is no reason why they would not grow well in Australia
with minor soil pH adjustments.
Is it too much to ask for another picture?
Regards
Alberto