Even though some bulbs for whatever reason refuse to come up, they don't seem phased by a continuous supply of water throughout the winter. The problem with these things is the offsets are so small and soil-colored, they are very easy to miss when being checked on. I would just water it as usual and forget about it until they do decide to emerge (if you have the space and patience that is). In terms of the lamb, you might want to save an offering to the gods for keeping Cyrtanthus spiralis alive or setting seed on Worsleya, but it might not hurt when trying to get L. sargeantii to bloom. Sarcasm aside, no sacrificial rituals are necessary to grow this species. Colin On Fri, Sep 6, 2013 at 7:53 AM, Karl Church <64kkmjr@gmail.com> wrote: > Colin, being a neophyte I need clarification of sacrificial lambs. Thanks > Karl > On Sep 6, 2013 12:16 AM, "Colin Davis" <codavis@ucdavis.edu> wrote: > > > To all PBS Lachenaliacs - I have just sent a good amount of offsets of > > Lachenalia sargeantii to Dell for an upcoming BX. As I will be > backpacking > > in France and Spain for the next couple of months I will not be able to > > answer any potential questions about this species, and since it behaves > > markedly different than other members of the genus I thought I would > > comment. > > > > L. sargeantii produces copious amounts of offsets annually, far more than > > any other I have grown (counted nearly 50 off one mature bulb this > year). I > > have posted a picture of this on the PBS site. > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… > > > > Also, these offsets can remain stubbornly dormant for however long they > see > > fit (some come up the first year planted, others take years off). As I > > understand in the wild this species can remain dormant for many years on > > end, emerging only when fire clears surrounding vegetation and allows > this > > species to flower. I have tried to induce flowering with smoke treatment > as > > well as burning matter on the soil surface, all to no avail. > Nevertheless, > > I have plans for more extensive trials including in-ground treatments, > so I > > hope to crack the code with this species, which is far tougher than the > > related L. montana. Another interesting bit about this species is that it > > grows on much longer than the other Lachenalia, well into the heat of > > summer if given water. I usually get tired of seeing it so force dormancy > > by withholding water. Curiously though, my plants come up reliably every > > year, in contrast to their wild brethren. Its the offsets they produce > > which are finicky about breaking dormancy in fall. They also naturally > pull > > themselves a bit deeper than other Lachenalia (about 6cm), which is an > > important aspect to pay attention to for all geophytes, especially when > > repotting. > > > > They also require weekly sacrificial lambs, but other than that, they > > require the same treatment as other Lachenalia. The offsets are a mix > from > > 8 different seed raised parents (judiciously monitored for and protected > > from Virus), for those who are conservationally-minded like myself. Best > of > > luck with them! > > > > Colin > > _______________________________________________ > > 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/ >