Changing Hemispheres and Paramongaia
Mary Sue Ittner (Tue, 22 Apr 2003 15:45:35 PDT)

Dear Angelo,

No one seems to be responding to your question about seeds and bulbs from
opposite hemispheres. This was discussed as a topic of the week several
years ago on the IBS list and I attempted to summarize what everyone said.
I will send that to you privately.

It is indeed a bit of a challenge to move plants from one hemisphere to
another although obviously some things are harder and some things easier
and the microclimate you can provide is a huge factor in whether you will
be successful or not. It seems to me that if something is easily grown from
seed to flower in a couple of years that growing from seed and having the
plant start out used to your conditions makes more sense than buying a bulb
or corm unless it is something you cannot purchase in your hemisphere.

As you point out with seeds that don't have a short viability it is
relatively easy to store them in the refrigerator until it is time to plant
them. I have had really good luck with Silverhill Seeds, seeds from Dirk
from Australia, and IBSA seeds that fall in this category. Seeds with a
short viability are much more tricky. You may be forced to start them
immediately. With Amaryllid seeds sometimes when you get them they have
already produced a radicle so you have no choice. I recently participated
in the Croft group order and that was true for some Nerine seeds I ordered.
I potted them up and two days later there were green shoots.

Andrew Wilson tried storing seeds of Amaryllids from South Africa in
plastic bags in the refrigerator hoping to delay their grow so he could
start them later when the temperatures would be more what they needed and
had success. I tried replicating this for a few seeds last year (planting
half and storing half) and found the ones I put in the refrigerator started
growing a month or so later so my results were different from his. I am
fortunate enough to live in an area with cool summers which I think gives
me an advantage and I just try to keep the seedlings growing through to
when they normally would have their first dormancy by keeping them cool and
giving regular fertilizing. Last year I lost all my Gethyllis and Strumeria
seeds after they came up, but did better with Brunsvigia and Haemanthus.
But I had just one pot of each and am not very expert with Amaryllid seeds.

As for bulbs the same principal has worked for me. I have been successful
extending the dormancy of some things by keeping them warm and starting
them later. Last year I got three different species of Moraeas from Bill
Dijk and they all came up and flowered this winter more or less on schedule
after I stored them for a longer time than normal and planted them close to
the time I normally would start Moraeas into growth.

With the Croft order I had Amaryllids some which had green showing and
others which looked like their roots would be unhappy with a long dormancy
so I potted them up right away and they are growing already. I will try to
keep them cool and shaded and into growth as long as possible and then give
them a shorter than usual dormancy. But they still will be stressed. Diana
once suggested for some Nothoscordums we were turning around to put them in
the refrigerator every night if you lived where night temperatures did not
drop during the summer and you were growing winter rainfall plants.

I have successfully turned around: Moraea, Leucocoryne, Narcissus, Ipheion
(by far the easiest, no set back at all), Sandersonia (another easy one
since you can actually make it bloom when you want by controlling the
watering) and Nothoscordum. Some Nerines seem to be growing fine but
haven't gotten to bloom yet. Some of the things I have tried skipped a year
of growth and one or two of blooming in the process. The Tecophilaea bulbs
I bought last year grew well but did not bloom and only have just recently
returned so they are still very far off and I'm reserving judgement on how
easy they will be to turn around.

I still think it is better to buy plants that have been growing in your
hemisphere if there is a choice. Some of the ones I tried were BX offerings
so it didn't cost much to experiment.

I hope Alberto will not mind my coming out of the closet about this last
one. I purchased a Paramongaia weberbaueri from New Zealand last May. I
came home and read all I could about it and appealed to this group for help
as it seemed that this plant was really hard to grow successfully. Most
people who got it to bloom started it in fall and found it didn't grow very
long before it wanted to go dormant. One man from Canada started it in
February and had better luck. Paul Chapman from the UK was trying to grow
it in summer but had never gotten it to bloom. Alberto said it needed a
cold dry winter and a scorching hot summer and then was when it would get
the little rainfall it got in nature. So most everyone was growing it at
the wrong time of the year (except Paul). I have a mild very wet winter and
a completely dry not hot summer so I had purchased a plant that was
absolutely wrong for my climate! I had had the opportunity to correct when
it should have been growing since I had gotten the bulb from Bill at the
time I should have planted to make it a summer growing. Not knowing that I
had put it in dry sand in my greenhouse to be warm until fall and it was
already August.

Alberto encouraged me to try anyway when I thought I'd just give it to
someone from a hot climate. He also told me to plant it in a 5 gallon can
in very sandy mix. Now since I didn't really expect it to survive I didn't
want to fill a whole 5 gallon can with mix. For its storage I had planted
it instead in a very deep narrow container used for trees. Rather than
repot it in late August with his encouragement I watered it. Almost
immediately it sprung into life and grew very well in our warmer fall
weather. In fact it was enormous and I could see right away that it needed
more room probably than I had given it. He told me to only let it grow for
a few months but to fertilize it well so it would have energy to store for
the next season. But it looked so healthy and the weather was mild so I
kept it going until maybe November and then I stopped watering it. Only a
week or so ago did the last dry leaf fall off. I haven't dumped it out and
I'm not sure I'd remember how big it was to see if I have shrunk it with my
experiment.

But I do intend to repot it in a much larger pot and see how I do trying to
make it grow in summer. I am wondering if I need to bring it inside at
night to create warmer temperatures. Perhaps Alberto will be willing to say
whether it stays warm at night too in its native habitat. Except for maybe
one or two nights a year it cools off a lot here at night. I will let you
all know how it does for me on a summer schedule.

Anybody else care to share with Angelo their experiences.

Mary Sue

Mary Sue Ittner
California's North Coast
Wet mild winters with occasional frost
Dry mild summers