rainlilies, pots, grasshoppers
Kelly Irvin (Wed, 30 Aug 2006 17:46:09 PDT)

Grasshoppers are my biggest pest problem in the nursery, including
potted bulbs and Lycoris flower stalks in the beds. I've seen the black
ones in east Texas when I was a boy, but these are the regular ol' light
brown/yellow ones. I've just ordered a bunch of semaspore to see if I
can get some control. I expect it to be difficult, though, since I can't
really contain the "site". It did help me one year in my winter house,
though, so I am hopeful.

A scientist like myself is intrigued by rain lilies in pots, because you
can experiment with forcing bloom, not relying on nature to give you the
occasional bloom. It has been several years since I took a scientific
approach. I think I let the listserv for IBS know about it at the time,
but I can't find the info. If I recall correctly, a good rule of thumb
was to water regularly for 6-8 (4-6?) weeks during the growing season,
then completely withhold water for 3-4? weeks. The next time I started
watering again, I got a bunch of blooms in a day or two. These were
greenhouse conditions, so nature could not interrupt the "scientific"
process. ;)

The described method, or something akin to it would give me more bloom
periods in the season than just keeping them watered regularly. It seems
that regular watering encourages bulb division (increase), but more
flowering can mean more seed (increase). So, if you want to get a bunch
more bulbs of the exact same thing, bring on the water hose, but if you
want to play *od and make babies of different colors and shapes,
practice some "science" with your rain lilies.

Mr. Kelly M. Irvin
The Bulbmeister
10846 Hodge Ln
Gravette, AR 72736
479-366-4968

USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 6b

E-mail: mailto:bulbmeister@bulbmeister.com
Website: http://www.bulbmeister.com/
Forum: http://www.bulbmeister.com/forum/

Joe Shaw wrote: