Lycoris & Drought Part 2 - flower initiation
Kelly Irvin (Thu, 21 Aug 2003 07:21:17 PDT)

Jim:

I could not venture to guess the actual triggering mechanism, but I do
believe it is primarily internal and only minimally influenced by earth,
wind, water, or fire. I do believe combinations of a couple of those
elements influence the quality and quantity of bloom, but that
initiation is triggered by something like you mention with whimsy, a
clock, gravitational pull, etc. I have watched closely the timing of
Lycoris squamigera in our area of the country for several years now, and
we are guaranteed first bloom to be the last week of July, without fail.
Another flush seems to appear again 3 weeks later. How well they bloom,
how high they go, etc. is probably related to who knows what combination
of soil, water availability (complexed by timing), and maybe heat (I am
doubtful).

When you think about the size of these flower stalks in relation to the
size of the bulbs and add to that the incredible speed with which those
stalks can grow, it is easy to imagine the amount of available water the
bulb needs all at once to create such fantastic cell replication,
expansion, then maintenance of turgidity (retention of all that water).

James Waddick wrote:

--
Mr. Kelly M. Irvin
The Bulbmeister
4407 Town Vu Road
Bentonville, AR 72712
479-685-1339

USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 6b

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