summer water for Brunsvigia josephinae?
D Anderson (Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:58:58 PDT)

Ken, amazing bulb and blooms! Would be cool to find seeds. Did add you as
a friend in Flickr.

:) Donna in Winnipeg, Manitoba

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken" <kjblack@pacbell.net>
To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2008 11:49 AM
Subject: Re: [pbs] summer water for Brunsvigia josephinae?

GREAT information, Jim!

Thank you very much. Perhaps I will only try to pollinate my largest bulb
this year, or ... maybe just one or two flowers on the newer blooming
bulbs!?! I am hoping to get at least some seed.

Your comment about possible lack of bloom following a year of seed set was
especially interesting. I had that experience with my B.litoralis, which
bloomed in 2005, set from 4-13 seeds on each of its 12 florets. The
following year, no bloom ... but I repeated similar bloom and seed set last
(2007) year as in 2005. Of course, there could have been other factors too.

Do you think irrigation during seed formation may help offset some of the
stress on the bulb? Also, do you fertilize? Another California grower
indicated he had 5 blooms on his plants this year after applying ash last
winter during the growth cycle. His bulbs are in pots, though.

here's a link to a photo I shot this morning of mine, now with two open
flowers:

http://flickr.com/photos/amarguy/…

Thanks again!

Ken
San Diego, California

--- On Sat, 8/30/08, Jim lykos <jimlykos@optusnet.com.au> wrote:

My experience in flowering Brunsvigia josephinea is that flower count will
decline progressively if you set seed each year. The high flower counts
arise
from a couple of years of rest as a seed parent. The highest flower count
in
the mature josephinea I've grow is 60. This is also directly related to the
number of leaves that the bulb supported in the previous season. This year
my
mature B. josephinea has 14 large leaves and I'm anticipating a large flower
count in February 2009.
However if you harvest seed from every flower then you can expect the
flower
count in the following year to be as low as 25, or no flowering at all and
a
significantly lower leaf count.
Self pollinated seed set is a factor of the overall level of plant vigor -
ie
the higher the flower count the more likely it is that the B. josephinea
will
set seed from a selfing. Below 30 flowers I've been unable to set any seed
from self pollination whereas a josephinea with 50 flowers will produce
almost
optimal selfing seed set - and there is a gradient in between these levels.

Good growing

Jim Lykos
Blue Mountains Sydney
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