TOW Nerine Part 1
Mary Sue Ittner (Wed, 30 Apr 2003 12:34:44 PDT)

Dear All,

There doesn't seem to be much discussion about our topic of the week this
week so in my role as coordinator I'm going to start asking questions and
hope that some of you will respond. I know when I go to the trouble of
preparing an introduction, I always hope someone will respond and I'd think
others would feel the same way. I know you must all get very tired of
seeing my name flash across the screen and you can prevent this by speaking up.

First off can we establish the hardiness of the different species. On the
wiki page Bill suggested only N. bowdenii was hardy and so did Hamish and
that others needed to be grown under glass as frost was not good for the
leaves. Many of the species are from the Eastern Cape and I'd think some of
them might be hardy. And what about the ones dormant in the winter?

I was curious to read in Graham Duncan's Grow Nerines that many of the
species that are considered evergreen are dormant during the winter in
habitat in these dry winter areas. Would that mean that they could be left
dormant in the winter and therefore be protected from frost? I had
understood if you let them grow dry that they would be slow to recover.

We get frost where I live (not heavy frost) and the ones I grow haven't
seemed to have been troubled by it but I don't always get reliable blooms.
Can we have any reports from anyone who has found some of these can stand
colder temperatures? I'm Zone 9. Now I am wondering if my flowering would
improve if they were kept warmer in winter so hope the rest of you will
share your experiences. How about all of you who live in Canberra who
obviously are successful from your pictures. Do you keep yours warm in winter?

Since I have become interested in Nerines there have been several areas
there is disagreement about.

One is fertilization. Sir Peter Smithers was a strong proponent that
fertilization of the hybrids would lead to virus as he was sure that
happened to him. I have never been able to understand that exactly unless
there was a latent virus and over fertilization was a stress that brought
it out. Since then others have suggested that they won't bloom without
fertilizing and Hamish has told us he fertilizes every time he waters. How
about the rest of you who have success? How much do you fertilize?

The second area of contention is how to treat them in dormancy. Bill is
saying to keep them completely dry and so does Graham Duncan. But Andrew
Wilson and Lee Poulsen have found that regular water in summer when they
are dormant has meant better flowering and in Hamish's introduction he
talks of a sprinkle now and then.

Another difference is whether they need their necks exposed or can be
planted more deeply. There was a grower in Tasmania on the IBS list a
number of year ago who had found in his climate planting them more deeply
was better. I was also interested in size of the pot. Hamish has deeper
pots than recommended by some and I have potted some of mine more deeply
when there just didn't seem to be room for the roots. I know crowding is
recommended but I just seem to have better results when roots don't start
moving upwards when there is no longer room to go down. So depth of
container is another area I am interested in.

O.K. on this next one perhaps I should tread softly. I was fascinated with
Hamish's mix. But he is controlling the water by growing under cover and I
am sure that makes a difference. You rarely hear of people using
vermiculite in their mixes. With all the winter rain I get I'd be afraid of
using it. And supergel too? Harold told us to plant in cactus mix and both
Bill and Hamish have a much richer mix. So here may be another clue for me.
These mixes may not dry out as fast and therefore may survive a dry
dormancy better. Leaner might need more water during dormancy.

Many of these bloom better after fire. Terry Hatch in New Zealand told us
he torches the leaves of his hybrids after they have died back. Anyone else
experiment with fire to get blooms?

Where I live I have no luck with Nerine bowdenii in the ground. But then I
have decomposed sandstone for soil. It would seem to dry out too much in
summer and also have very little nutrients. A friend who lives not too far
away brags about hers each year. I have suggested that perhaps hers get
more water than mine, but she also has clay soil and so probably retains
moisture and has more nutrients than mine.

So far the only two that have been blooming lately most years in the ground
for me are N. pudica (which is from the winter rainfall area) and a cross
given to me by Jim Robinett called Nerine flexuosa x N. undulata. That one
blooms in a shady area no less in the ground and in a container I leave
year round in the greenhouse. I have a couple of other species in
containers that either haven't yet bloomed or don't usually bloom. N.
masoniorum has bloomed more reliably now that it is in a deeper pot and I
am paying more attention to fertilizing it. Last year I was dazzled by the
hybrids from the Zinkowski rescue and I hope that I can keep them going.
Maybe they should spend the winter in the greenhouse where they can be
protected from the excessive rains.

Please someone else share your experiences! And Hamish I am interested in
what you have to say about the species too.

Mary Sue