Tecophilaea/plant mixes/Amaryllis belladonna

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Sat, 30 Jul 2005 10:52:10 PDT
Mary Sue wrote asking about what kind of nighttime temperatures would be 
suitable to help Tecophilaea cyanocrocus to flower.

Mine have flowered well in the bulb frames for many years now. I just 
repotted them and will have some on my surplus list. While dormant, they 
are probably fairly cool down in the soil (the pots and plunged to the rim 
in sand), and the nights here are almost always in the mid-50s F in summer. 
I think in nature (though it's hard to know from the single documented 
population that survives), the area where it grows has similarly cool 
nights. I've stayed in a village in the area and had to use a thick blanket 
even in midsummer.

One think that I believe benefits these plants is ample water in their 
early growing season. They are apparently snowmelt lovers in nature. Some 
of mine did not flower as well or set as much seed this year as they 
usually do, although the bulbs appear healthy. I think this was because I 
was gone in January when we had a long dry spell, when I would have watered 
them if I'd been here.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA



More information about the pbs mailing list