I attended Ernesto Sandoval’s lecture on South African bulbs Thursday
evening at
the Fresno Cactus and Succulent Society. They are very pleasant and
knowledgeable people, and I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Having
been a
cactophile myself some decades ago, I may have gleaned more from the
meeting
than some bulbophiles. Their bragging table was particularly impressive.
Ernesto Sandoval is Director of the U.C. Davis Botanical Conservatory. In
his
talk he pointed out some similarities between the culture of arid land
succulents and dry land bulbs: both typically grow in well drained
nutrient
poor soils, both rot if kept too moist, both have developed adaptations to
lengthy dry periods, yet both require a moist environment for seed
germination.
He demonstrated a technique for seed germination which I really liked, and
shall
be trying out in the future. He plants the seeds in a well-drained mix
(like
vermiculite, perlite, pumice, etc.), covers them with a thin layer of sand,
waters them and lets them drain thoroughly, then encloses the pots in a
zip-lock
baggie. When the seed germinate, he opens the zipper to allow air
circulation.
As they become sturdier, he removes them from the baggies; eventually he
plants
them out. His modus is to not stress the plants with too much change at a
time. Sounds sensible to me.
David Ehrlich
_______________________________________________
pbs mailing list
pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/