amarcrinum
J.E. Shields (Thu, 21 Feb 2013 06:13:28 PST)

Hi Bea,

It all depends on what you are trying to grow. I specialize in genera like
Crinum, Clivia, Cyrtanthus, Haemanthus, Hippeastrum, and similar
things. The bulbs from arid and semi-arid climates will suffer from any
presence of excess moisture during their dormant periods. For such bulbs,
a soilless mix that dries out quickly is important. x-Amarcrinum counts as
just such a bulb, one of whose parents is Amaryllis belladonna from the
arid western Cape of South Africa, a Mediterranean climate zone.

Note that we are not discussing things like Narcissus, hardier Galanthus,
certain Lycoris, and the very few African things like Crinum variabile and
Crinum bulbispermum that survive outdoors here in USDA zone 5 in Central
Indiana over winter, wet frozen ground and all.

I use a mixture of Promix (a Canadian product), brown sand, and crushed
granite (granite chicken grit) for my potting mixtures. The Promix
moderates the drying and seems to facilitate re-wetting. Using this sort
of mix takes some getting used to. However, it enables a tighter control
of nutrients as well as of moisture. Some bulbs, like Nerine for instance,
are more tolerant of moisture but are easily damaged by too much nitrogen
in the mix.

Best wishes,
Jim Shields

At 09:26 PM 2/20/2013 -0500, you wrote:

*************************************************
Jim Shields USDA Zone 5
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Lat. 40° 02.8' N, Long. 086° 06.6' W