Starting winter growing seed-Tecophilaea cyanocrocus
Jane McGary (Thu, 12 Feb 2004 09:55:18 PST)

Mary Sue wrote,

make a lot of offsets. Do >they have to be a certain size to do this? Or do
some do this and not others.

I have not seen any offsets from corms smaller than flowering size. Mine
make a maximum of 2 offsets per large corm per year, and some years not
that much. They are growing much colder than Lee Poulsen's would be, indeed
experiencing frost every winter even though in a covered frame. However, I
have other plants from the same general area in the same frames, and they
handle the conditions well too.

When I first got this plant, bulbs purchased from England, I read that it
preferred growing in the "open ground" to being in a pot, so I planted it
directly into the plunge medium in the frames, where it did not do so well.
Once I moved the corms into pots they did better. I think that statement in
the older literature reflected being grown in pots in English alpine
houses, where the plants may have been dried out too much in summer or
subjected to fluctuations in moisture during the growing season, or perhaps
didn't get enough light. They will not flower in my cool greenhouse even
though in full light -- I suppose temperature fluctuation helps stimulate
them too. I don't think they strictly need an arid summer dormancy, because
I have read of them flourishing in the open garden in Ireland (although
that may have been an exaggeration).

I just noticed a lot of aphids on my Tecophilaeas and applied systemic
insecticide, so check yours too. They seem particularly attractive to these
pests.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA