Hi, Tom Schafer, who lives in the North East of the USA, wrote to the PBS website asking how to make a 19th century bulb flower. You can reply direct to: tschafer30@aol.com or to the list. "I inherited a Hippeastrum Petiolatum from my late friend who inherited it from her grandparents when they died. They had received it as a wedding present in the late 1800's. My friend did not have a green thumb and she kept it pot bound in the same pot for years. She fertilized weekly but I don't know what she used. And the plant blossomed for her at least twice a year with upwards of 15 stalks!! She loved it and wanted me to have it when she died. I have had it for about 10 years now and I have had no luck whatsoever with it. I did not know what it was (nor did she) so that didn't help but I cared for it like I would a child! Occasionally it would send up a flower or two and that's all. And it kept looking worse by the month. (At one point I had it planted in a bark mixture used for Clivia because I thought that that is what it is.) I somehow decided on making some new potting soil on my own (1 part perlite, 1 part peat moss and 1 part manure). I pulled the plant all apart in the spring of 2018, used my soil and put it on my porch for the summer and it looked (and still does although it's now inside) wonderful!! But not one single flower. I did read that after they are transplanted they may not blossom for a year or two and that they like to be pot bound so that could be the problem. (I have attached a picture. I divided it into two pots when replanting.) I decided that I used too much fertilizer and over watered it in the past (on all of my plants) so I cut back. And on this plant I only occasionally gave it 10-10-10. I am using Jack's Classic all purpose 20-20-20 water soluble plant food at half the recommended dose. I have not given it anything since last fall but with spring hopefully arriving in a few months, I thought I should start again thus my question to Pacific." There is a photo in the scrubbed link below. The PBS wiki has a page about one of these bulbs from the 1920s https://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… -- David Pilling http://www.davidpilling.com/ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: IMG_0126.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 123689 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/pipermail/pbs/…> _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…
