Hippeastrum culture
Diana Chapman (Thu, 13 Jun 2013 08:52:53 PDT)
No, I don't. I just use dish soap with bleach to wash the pots and
benches. I just fill up a wheelbarrow with soapy bleach solution to wash
the pots, and it goes really fast. I wash the bulbs in water with just
a dash of dish soap to break the surface tension. If I do find any kind
of rot, I scrape or cut out that part and dust with sulfur. Sometimes,
if I think the bulb might not make it, I clean it thoroughly, removing
all damaged tissue and twin scale the rest of the bulb, since some of
the species I have are in very short supply and I don't want to
sacrifice even one bulb. If I have plenty, I just throw the damaged
bulb away. In the past I have used Cleary 3336WP, a systemic fungicide,
which is very good, but to buy it now I need a pesticide applicator's
license and I don't want to go that route. It would be very burdensome
to take the classes and file monthly reports for a small business like
mine, and I have found these practices I have outlined to work just as
well, maybe better. I have two young helpers one day a week who do the
washing, and they are very organically oriented, so they have been a
good influence. One worked right through her pregnancy in my
greenhouses, so I was also motivated to phase out the use of chemical
solutions. I have been very pleased with the results.
Diana
http://www.telosrarebulbs.com/
http://www.thebulbmaven.typepad.com/
Diana:
That's great advice.
Do you disinfect with any commercial product during your cleaning process.
Arnold
New Jersey
On 06/12/13, Diana Chapman wrote:
I have modified some of the cultural advice posted yesterday and added
some tips on specific species. I will add to this in the future.
I have had people ask me how I keep my Hippeastrums so healthy. I must
emphasize the yearly repotting and cleaning. We repot all the bulbs in
winter, clean the bulbs, removing any dead tissue, dead roots, and all
the outer dry tunics, scraping off dead material from the basal place.
Sometimes I dust with sulfur when I do this, otherwise not. The pots
are washed, and the benches washed also, and the bulbs repotted in fresh
material with the old potting mix discarded. I used to use fungicides,
but have not had to for the past two years. I keep my bulbs much drier
than most bulbs. The only problem I have had with rots is when the
medium is too moist. There are some species that like moisture (H.
blumenavium, but maybe it's not a Hippeastrum after all!). Old potting
mix gets compacted, fungal disease can build up, so the repotting is
very important. It is a very big job, and my helpers and I do it in the
winter, but my collection is very valuable to me.
blog: http://www.thebulbmaven.typepad.com/
Diana
http://www.telosrarebulbs.com/
_______________________________________________
pbs mailing list
pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/
_______________________________________________
pbs mailing list
pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/