Chlidanthus cultivation
Johannes Ulrich Urban (Sat, 13 Jul 2019 15:08:57 PDT)

Dear All,

Thank you very much again for all the comments and information on my
question about how to get Chlidanthus fragrans to flower. I am sorry to
be a bit late in my reply to your request to share the private messages
I got...... I built a greenhouse in the meantime.

Let's start with the points all comments had in common: It seems to be a
plant that does not like to be overfed or overwatered during growth.
Another point all had in common is that it IS difficult to flower. Most
people mention a single scape now and then. One comment said that it
flowered after neglect during the growing season, this makes me think of
Zephyranthes which flower after a period of drought during the growing
season when watered well again. But here the common advice ends.

A very interesting advice which I will try is to lift the bulbs and
replant them shallowly on top of a tile, a piece of flat stone like a
slate or something comparable. This is meant to keep the bulbs near the
surface of the soil, the roots should go around the obstacle. He states
that deeply planted bulbs in heavy soil will not be able to push up the
flower buds and abort them. My soil is not that hard if watered but I
will try.

The very opposite advice came from a quote of Alberto Castillo who some
time ago wrote that in nature the bulbs sit VERY deep in the soil....

One person mentioned that the commercial stock of this bulb is virused
throughout and that my be a VERY good explanation why it is so shy to
flower. I do not know where the Dutch bulb companies get their bulbs
from but they probably are easy to increase vegetatively. So it could be
an old clone which is tired.

Maybe that helps....

Uli

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