I think my success with SA Amaryllids is partly the climate I live in. It is cool here, with summers rarely having temperatures that reach 20C/68F, but the proximity to the Pacific Ocean (only about two miles from me) makes the temperatures fairly even year round. Of course, it's colder in the winter, but we rarely get frost, and the temperature differential from daytime to nighttime is only about 10-15F. It is also fairly humid because we get fog from the ocean in the summer and ground fog in winter. Since they are in greenhouses, this boosts the temperatures quite a bit, but they are very large greenhouses so the temperature swings are not extreme. It still isn't warm enough for species from very warm regions, therefore the heated benches, which work very well. I couldn't possibly heat the entire greenhouse. When I was getting Telos started, I didn't have the money to put benches in the greenhouses, and everything was on the floor, which was covered in landscape fabric. Very, very bad!! I lost a lot of Hipps. in the winter and had rampaging disease. When I could afford the benches, raising them about 24" off the ground, with better air circulation and better drainage, a lot of the problems completely disappeared. So, I think the important things are: fairly even temperatures, no excessive heat or cold; very good drainage; very good air circulation; repotting yearly and regular fertilization. If you are in a warm climate that means you need a cooling system, and a swamp cooling system is the best for greenhouses, since it is cheaper and raises humidity. You may also need to shade the greenhouse, especially if it is small, to prevent extreme temperature swings from day to night, and I recommend Aluminet. When it is cold, they need some extra heat, but mats can supply that. Soil temperature is more important than air temperature. Diana > Perhaps some of your articles could be pasted into the PBS wiki under the > apreopriate species/ genus/ families Diana? > You give information which is often very hard to find. Only this morning I > was reading both your website and blog looking for tips on Phaedranassa and > Phycella. > > I do not count myself particularly successfull with South American > amaryilads which is my reason too, for not making any comments until now, > on your recent Hippeastrum postings. However I did find a significant > improvement when I gave extra warmth to some this winter, and extra light > to the benches in my house. I think that both these findings agree with the > practices suggested in your blog. > Peter (UK) > > On Sun, Jun 23, 2013 at 2:46 PM, Diana Chapman <rarebulbs@suddenlink.net>wrote: > > the problem, of course, is that none of my old posts will be available, >> and I started the blog to try to put more information about the bulbs on >> the web. > > >> There is a limit to how much information I can put on the web >> site, and I have been overwhelmed by e-mails requesting information, so >> in this way I could refer people to a blog posting. >> > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >