Well-drained growing media (was Oh No! A Boophone disaster!)
Allen Repashy (Sun, 04 Oct 2009 07:46:11 PDT)
I have been growing Boophone and Brunsvigia seedlings.. actually some of
the same Boophone that Ken is talking about (I got a few of these
seedlings from him two years ago) in a mixture of 80% Turface MVP, 10%
Local DG, 10% compost...... It has worked very well for me. I am now
pushing my luck with some Gethyllis grandiflora in this mix. I spritzed
the pots through the summer on my winter growers without problems..
Turface is a calcined clay product sold for Infield amendment.
Allen
Tom Mitchell wrote:
There was an interesting article in the most recent issue of The
Plantsman (8, 3, p. 189-191) reporting great success growing
Fritillaria from seed to maturity, without any repotting, in pure
Seramis, a proprietary expanded clay product from Germany. The
author, Paul Cumbleton, reported that the medium is apparently NOT
successful with winter growing South African bulbs perhaps because,
he speculated, the feeding regime is hard to get right. I wonder
whether anyone else has tried Seramis or another expanded clay
material with genera other than Fritillaria and, if so, with what
results?
On a related point, I wonder if anyone with experience of using it
would advise me which grade or particle size of pumice to use for
horticultural applications. I've never used it but am keen to
experiment with it after reading the recent correspondence on
Boophone and other SA Amaryllidaceae.
Tom, Zone 8 (Boophone seedlings currently doing well in a coir/
perlite mix)
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