FANTASTIC!!!! Make sure and post dozens of updates (ROTF!!)
;-)
K

Very nice Donna,

I noticed that my aulicum and calyptratum are starting to show what I thing (hope) are flower tips. Yours are way far ahead and I am looking forward to seeing them.
-J

Hi, My aulicum is starting to open but with only 2 flowers. I was so hoping for 4 (like the picture) but will have to be content with 2.
I am looking for advice as to what to put on them. I would put papilio but I have no pollen left but I do have the papilio hybrid and will put that on one. I had intended to put Lemon Gold on one of 4 but now I'm not sure since I only have the 2 flowers. I also have Rio Negro, Exotic Star (which I just used and it appears to still be viable). All the pollens but the papilio hybrid and Lemon Gold are several months old. I actually have just about all the cybisters and just about everything else, just not sure what to use..chico?..Tango?... all 4 to 6 months old...thanks for any suggestions!

Donna

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Hi Donna,
I vote for Exotic Star, and Chico.
Mike

Hi Donna , I would vote for the Papilio hybrid , and Chicco , and hope the hybrid would flower in autumn..

Hi Donna , I would vote for the Papilio hybrid , and Chicco , and hope the hybrid would flower in autumn..

Well, here is my Midnight Tag or whatever it is. I have my doubts that this was the correct bulb as it doesn't really look like Komoriya's picture.

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and their picture:

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Actually, it looks more like Evening Butterfly which I have also but won't be blooming for a good long time. I'm not all that pleased with it, it's OK but I wanted better than OK.

And here is their aulicum. I don't like the looks of the stem and leaves, it has an affliction of some sort! It came that way, it didn't catch this at my house! The flowers are OK but I'm wondering if I dare to use this pollen on aything else. ???

Midnight Tag(?) is growing fine with a very long reddish colored stalk with nice thin leaves..only 2 flowers though...

Some sort of insect on my aulicum? That little black spot on the lower left leaf is actually a hole in the leaf, not a bug.

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and the flower:

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Thanks,

Donna

It looks like if it had mites does'nt it ? Tomorrow I will post a picture of one of my komorya's that has suspect red marks on the edge of the leaves too.

This post was edited by agapanthe64 on Sat, Oct 5, 13 at 15:54

You're not alone Donna!
See my Komoriya "monster"!!!

And the yucky scape! We all will need to inform Komoriya about this. This is terrible!

OMG Maria!! Is that an aulicum too!! Yours is far worse than mine, at least I am getting decent flowers. Obviously we have a problem here. This is the first Komoriya bulb with these signs but I have a couple others that I don't like the looks of the leaves but it's too soon to tell and it's probably just be stress as they don't seem to want to root. I sure hope we haven't jumped from the frying pan into the fire if you know what I mean....

Agapanthe.. in the post above thinks she might have this mite problem with one of her Komoriya bulb too so lets see when she posts a picture if it's the same...

Is there anyone else out there????

As you say, we may all need to send pictures of our bulbs to them and see what their response will be...

Donna

Here's the leave of my Shoka no Kagayaki , ordered in june , I didn't get flower , and it took a very long time to get roots and leaves.

Agapanthe ;-),

It does appear that your leaf has the same affliction but not nearly as bad...Maria, what variety IS your bulb??

I must say that the flowers on my aulicum are very pretty and I can only imagine how four flowers would have looked!

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Does anyone know whether or not I can use this pollen safely on other plants? I am hoping I will be able to get seeds from these two flowers at the very least.

I notice that the ovary has an actual hole in it that oozzes the pollen! I have never seen this before, has anyone else ever noticed this?

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not as clear in this picture but can you see it?

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..and finally, I have decided that I do like Midnight Tag or whatever this is..it is very similar to cybister #0016 but the color is more to the orangy red side. Anyway it's quite pretty...

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Thanks for looking and I am hoping for opinions on whether I should use aulicum's pollen...

Donna

This post was edited by dondeldux on Mon, Oct 7, 13 at 11:32

Donna...It is one of my Komoriya Aulicum bulbs.
I have another one that is in bud right now that is not looking like that monster!

This post was edited by mariava7 on Tue, Oct 8, 13 at 21:35

My aulicum bulb has the same red burn marks on it, not sure about the leaves and scape as the scape has barely emerged. The bulb was peeled many layers and already had the burn marks on it in the inner layers, even on the pups.

I have a scape from one of my jumbo bulbs which looks just like Maria's scape, if not worse, it was rotting and moudling too and i just peeled off the scape cover and 2 flowers were moudly. I am determined to see what flowers bloom before i take action.

Does anybody think they can ID which variety of aulicum these Komoriya bulbs are? I now see there are many..of which I was not aware before.. the most beautiful being Benedito Novo.. I wonder which variety of aulicum Jim in Pennsylvania's seeds are...I suppose I could ask them both but I'm not quite ready to make a pest of myself yet, especially Komoriya as I may have some complaining to do if this bulb craps out on me!

Donna

Donna, it sure looks like you have bulb mites (tarsonemid mite). I have had these before and found that those infested would abort their scapes eventually. I ditched those with these mites. Hans has written extensively on this issue. Apparently you can hot water treat them, this is not the easiest thing for some of us. I would be upset to have spent so much money to get mite infested bulbs. I hope everything works out for you. You should be able to pollinate freely between these plants as the mites reside within the bulb layers, not the within tissues such as a virus would. Perhaps consider make some nice crosses and ditch the mother bulbs.

Salpal,

Thank you for your advice. I guess that Maria and myself along with a few others did indeed get infested bulbs! I am horrified! So what were the phyto health certificates for?? But I am glad to know that the pollen will be usable. I have already attempted pollination on my two flowers. One with a papilio hybrid (fresh pollen) and the other I scrapped the contents of two older batches of straight papilio pollen and was able to get some color to the stigma so time will tell if they take. If not then I can always use the pollen on my papilios when they bloom. I really wanted to mate these two!
If perhaps one or more pods should take then maybe I will get the big guns out ( liquid insecticide) and treat with those until hopefully the pods ripen and then if there is anything left of the bulb try the hot water treatment.
Thank you again!

Maria what are you going to do with your monster bulb?

Donna

This post was edited by dondeldux on Thu, Oct 10, 13 at 20:16

It's now in Hippie heaven. Burnt it! I ain't touching poison for a replaceable bulb.

Shiroko just emailed me back yesterday and said that they'll replace the bulb. ALSO, that I should report problems with their bulbs within 14 days of purchase! Unbelievable! Like they are not a bulb company that knows that dormant bulbs would not show some problems until they wake up and send out leaves and scapes! And some of their bulbs are still dormant until now, several months after purchasing from them!
Now I am really considering my "leftovers theory"!

This post was edited by mariava7 on Fri, Oct 11, 13 at 1:52

Donna, the aulicum is so beautiful! I really love those! Remember that mites are arachnids (like spiders) and have 8 not 6 legs, insects have 6 legs. Insecticides don't work on arachnids. You may, however, kill your beneficial bees- which are insects, or your butterflies, please don't. Only use insecticides when you know you have an insect to kill. Our bees have enough probs as is.

I think the best thing for me to do is dispose of the bulb like Maria did. I don't really think I want a replacement as it appears that Komoriya has a problem with their aulicums and I guess I wouldn't trust another. I'm sure there are others out there too with this same problem as they sold a large number of this variety.

And here is another thing..take a look at my Soarer from Komoriya..pardon the mess as I have it segregated. Any opinions would be appreciated. I tried to convince myself that it was just chemicals they had dipped the bulbs in to insure that they were insect free....HA!! Anyone else encounter this problem

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??????????

Since I've only been a "bad news bearer" I will just say that I lost a bunch of hippies to the damned bulb fly this summer. I never got anything new and still had disaster, I cut them up so as to kill the worm- so we all have our issues. Best to just get rid of questionables I think.

My aulicum is still more or less dormant but i noticed that a big fat bulb i had close to it has developed the affliction. Not sure if it spread and they abandoned the well chewed aulicum for the big juicy newcomer or if the newcomer was already affected too.

Surely there must be a chemical that can kill these mites? Water it or spray it with bleach or something? Are there nematodes for this kind of thing? Otherwise it seems like all the bulbs i have close to it are doomed.

Aunt Jemima,

Luckily, I had mine away from my other bulbs as I had it outside for the better part of the time. Of course anything is possible but for now it is outside far away from anything else until I see if I get any seeds from it which doesn't appear to be likely at the moment. Then I will chuck it.

I also.. just 5 minutes ago.. sent my complaints as well as well documented pictures of both of my plants that have an affliction, the aulicum and Soarer. I doubt that I will hear from them but you never know. I didn't ask for a replacement....

As Maria has already informed them as well as myself I would think it would be prudent if you took pictures and did the same as well. The more of us that band together and voice our disapproval the better I should think...and anyone else out there with any signs of these mites should do the same if possible.

As for your other bulbs showing the same symptoms I guess you could try the hot water treatment; let us know what you decide to do! But don't throw anything away until you have taken plenty of pictures...

Donna

My guess is that they have a greenhouse or two that is infected with these mites and it's only a matter of time before it spreads to more of their plants. I should think they would want to eradicate this problem as soon as possible...

This post was edited by dondeldux on Fri, Oct 11, 13 at 17:37

Thanks for the suggestions Donna, i'll take some pics of the aulicum I suppose. The other ones are more superficial so i'll see how it goes. I put it in the sun room now as it is nice and cool in there and I think that will dampen down their activity.

Are they the same as spider mites as I know there are treatments for that? Also there are fumigation treatments for greenhouses for pests.. would those work? Surely the smoke could get between the layers of the bulb...

I am loathe to hotwater it as that seems like a difficult procedure that I need equipment for and the babies and the scape make me hesitate too! Maybe i'll bake it in the oven in a fish kettle or flash microwave it. lol

Bill,

Can't wait to see your Fall Star! !

I got about 25 Komoriya bulbs and all but 6 have started to root but not many have sent up leaves. Only 3 bloomed so far, Lemon Gold which I really loved even if it was paler than pictured; Midnight Tag whose flower seemed to last forever and of course my buggy aulicum. I don't expect to see any more flowers for some time but one can hope.

My Petit Karguyahima one of the first bulbs I bought is doing nothing and is pitifully small. I don't hold out much hope so I'm happy yours is doing well. Also one from my first order, Yellow Gorgeous, refuses to root also and is extremely tiny. The two are keeping company discussing their next move I guess....When you say heat treatment for your Yellow Gorgeous what do you mean? Bottom heat or water treatment?

Donna

Donna,
I gave it a hot water treatment. How long have you had your yellow gorgeous? I hope not much longer than the 10 weeks or so that I have had mine. This is what it looked like two weeks ago before the heat treatment. It was deteriorating quickly and I had to repeatedly remove dying parts. It has since stabilized.
Bill

Bill

Bill,

The picture on the right was taken April 6 2013 and the one on the left tonight. About 2 months ago I finally cut the basal plate which I probably shouldn't have done and I have tried rooting hormone with no results. A few months ago it started with a leaf tip but it soon withered at about 1/4 of an inch..I don't hold out much hope. I also tried bottom heat (on top of the cable box on an old fashioned TV to no avail . Surprisingly, the bulb is still firm and no rot that I can detect. My Petite Kaguyahima is even smaller! Maybe I'll soak them in some really hot water..at this point I may as well try.

Donna

Donna,
Wow! April?! I really do not think mine could last another half a year. I wonder if I should wrap mine in peat moss and allow it to rest in the refrigerator...
Bill

Donna,
Wow! April?! I really do not think mine could last another half a year. I wonder if I should wrap mine in peat moss and allow it to rest in the refrigerator...
Bill

Yayyyyy! I got flowers!
Thank goodness for fall bloomers!!!!

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Well... I sent one last picture of my dying aulicum (which is now in the garage) to the good folks at Komoriya and Hiroko did get back to me and said they would send me "2" aulicums!

They arrived yesterday and I guess they look OK but they had been peeled which makes me a little nervous...

I have to give them credit; they have been very fair and generous with me and this is the second time they have sent a replacement bulb with an "extra" and of course they absorb the postage.

These both had stalks, roots and leaves that had been cut so it will be a very long time before I see them bloom.
I had asked them but they didn't reply as to which variety of aulicum they sold; does anyone out there have a guess? It is very different than the one I got from Telos. Komoriyas is quite a deep scarlet where the Telos variety was definitely pumpkin orange.

Donna

That is nice of them Donna. And i just realized i left mine in the sun room and have not even watered it since then. lol

Hope the replacements are healthy but i noticed that even in their official pictures of the flowers the flower stalks were actually affected so i think it is widespread problem they have with them.

Aunt Jemima, I saw that picture too; on the stem. You'd think they would have photo shopped that! Obviously they don't think there is anything wrong at least that's what they told me.. that several varieties of their bulbs had those markings and the next year they were fine! Sure they were fine, they sold them to us and they no longer had them!!!

Anyway, they have sold dozens of these aulicums so I'm wondering if they all have this problem? I really liked the flower on their variety, it has a different shape and color(than mine from Telos) and it is very saturated in color.

Better go and check on yours!!!

Donna