Donna,

It looks healthy, so why are you considering changing what you're doing?
Also, you are not alone as my aulicum also died. Maybe we should start a thread of people that are successful growing species and want to share their cultivation methods.
-J

I do not agree with the clay pot, but if it grows well in it, well...

H.aulicum and H.papilio are the quickest to settle in when replanted, growing new roots almost instantly. H.aulicum does not appreciate much heat!

removed post again..

This post was edited by dondeldux on Sun, Oct 12, 14 at 13:35

removed duplicate post..

This post was edited by dondeldux on Sun, Oct 12, 14 at 13:33

Hi Donna,

Regarding your H. nelsonii, I have two questions for you:

Is that a root emerging from the pot's drain hole?

What is the temperature in your furnace room?

Best,

Blanca

Hans-Werner:

My h. aulicum was on the hottest and sunniest part of our deck for the summer, perhaps that was the reason the bulb turned to mush? My other pot of h. aulicum seedlings was down the far end where the shade trees kick in from noon on, although this pot did ended up with mealybugs.

As for using a clay pot for my h. nelsonii, wouldn't that just help with the aeration and help to promote a fast draining soil?

Blanca:

Yes, that is a big thick root making its escape from the drain hole. I hesitate to repot it though as disturbing a happy Komoriya bulb fills me with fear (at this point at least). Should I ??

Our furnace room is warm all year, hardly going below the mid 50s in the dead of winter. Any of my winter stored bulbs in this room that lose all of their leaves then go out in the garage until it gets extremely cold, usually 2+ months where they do receive their cold dormancy. The rest that keep their leaves continue to grow during the winter in the furnace room and I really haven't noticed any difference between the blooming of those bulbs that receive a cold treatment to those that don't.

Donnaâºâºâº

Hi Donna,

H. nelsonii grows in a tropical mountain region. Temperature ranges from an average high of 57ð F (14ð C) to an average low, in the coldest month, of 28 F (-2ð C).
I wondered if your H. nelsonii was thriving in your furnace room because it is enjoying cooler temperatures than your H. aulicum bulbs.

Whether you decide to repot or not, I suggest taking precautions to avoid damaging that emerging root.

Best,

Blanca

This post was edited by blancawing on Tue, Oct 14, 14 at 3:42

Hi Dear Donna !

Sure you remember I ordered nelsonii at the same time as you. One was rooted so I had a replacement.
{{gwi:429524}}
Luckily the rooted bulb survived and looks now like this :
{{gwi:429525}}

The replacement bulb is doing fine , I took this picture while repoting it in september :
{{gwi:429527}}

so now it is in a 2 liters plastic pot , those pots for rosebush that are deep and with big drainage holes.
As I didn't know their cultivating tips, I grew them all summer in the shaded greenhouse , temperatures could be hot (more than 30ðc) , but the sun was filtered.

(I had less chance with my Hippeastrum mandonii offered by someone on this forum : it was leaning a little more every day , when depotted i realised most of the basal plate had dispeared.

{{gwi:429529}}

{{gwi:429531}})

Bonjour ma chère Béatrice,

It is wonderful to see you here again. Your H. nelsonii bulbs look amazing - what success! Despite the heat, those bulbs clearly loved the conditions in your shaded greenhouse and, of course, your care. With all those healthy leaves, they will surely reward you with a burst of dramatic blooms. I look forward to seeing photos (please).

In comparison, your H. mandonii suffered a sad and unanticipated fate. Pauvre bébé! The good news is that the offsets will survive to bloom for you one day. You may even obtain more babies from the remaining piece of basal plate.

I send you huge cyber hugs,

Blanca

Bonjour Dear Béatrice!!

It seems your nelsonii is doing even better than mine!! But then all your plants look like they are doing better than mine! I'm sure your mandonii will do the same for you and reward you with a pot full of bulbs in a year or so. Your mandonii even in its rotting stage, has many more leaves than mine!

It seems whenever I have a rotting bulb it just continues to rot unless I perform drastic surgery if caught in time but, I have better luck with my Narcissus Bulb Fly damaged bulbs.

I have lots to tell you and I will contact you soon!!

Donnaâºâºâº

Hi again Béatrice,

When I first viewed your thread, the picture of your replacement nelsonii didn't come through, so I just tried to view it again and wow!! That bulb is amazing!! Such a mat of healthy roots and lovely leaves, it makes mine look puny with my 3 leaves!! Donnaâºâºâº

Blanca,
I am curious where you found the information on the temperature range of its habitat. I often use gbif.org to find locations where a species has been collected. There was only one detailed record for H. nelsonii, and it was from a site in Bolivia with an elevation of only 750 meters. The climate at this elevation in Bolivia would be much warmer than the temperatures you cited. This single record from GBIF may not be representative of the full range of the species, but does suggest it may be happy in hot conditions as well.

Bill

Delete duplicate post.

This post was edited by blancawing on Wed, Oct 15, 14 at 7:41

Bill,

Yes, gbif.org is very useful. The information I posted came from a private party. The climate in Bolivia is affected greatly by differences in altitude. My understanding was that H. nelsonii is native to the Highland region (Altiplano). The single record you cite was published 45 years ago. The location is simply listed as Plurinational State of Bolivia, which means the entire country. The record does seem to indicate that this species may tolerate the warmer conditions found at much lower elevation.

In cultivation, this species may also adapt to warmer conditions. The most important point, for me, is that I am not going to worry about keeping my H. nelsonii in the coolest growing area over the winter months.

I was curious if the temperature in DonnaâÂÂs furnace room were cooler than the area in which she grows her H. aulicum bulbs; thereby providing H. nelsonii with a more successful growing environment. After seeing Béatrice's photos, I am wondering if shaded conditions are a more important factor than temperature.

-Blanca

Agapanthe64 Is she french?
If she had a lot of baby of hippeastrum nelsonii could you send 1 or 2 babies.
I had one from the japanese nursery he was bad and he die.
orchids-grower-1946

Hi Blanca and Donna , I was moved by your war welcome , thank you for your friendship.

Blanca , I'd like so much sending you a photo of nelsonii , but seing what happened to my mandonii makes me prudent ! Do you know at what season it should bloom ?

Doesn't yungacence have the same origins ? its come from bolivia , and it is very easy to grow and bloom.

Donna , for the rooting mandonii I made a hot water treatment.....as I always do when I don't know what to do ! Now the bulb is drying a little. I did the same when I received the nelsonii, as the first one was rooted inside , the replacement bulb had immediatly a HWT before planting it.

For the mealy bugs I use organic oil ("oviphyt") , hippeastrums tolerate very well , I have some as the plants go outside in summer, and for me it is impossible to eradicate them.

Bill , thank you , I didn't know gbif.org

Greetings Béatrice,

Many highly desirable species including H. mandonii, H. nelsonii, and H. yungacense are native to Bolivia. However, climatic conditions vary widely from one ecoregion to another with differences in elevation and the physical features of each region.
H. yungacense and H. nelsonii grow in different ecoregions, Mediterranean Forest, Woodlands and Scrub vs. Tropical Dry Forest, respectively. H. mandonii is also native to Bolivia; its habitat is Tropical Dry Forest. I suggest that you try growing your
H. mandonii bulbs under drier conditions. Does this make sense?

I donâÂÂt know when H. nelsonii flowers in habitat, or when it will bloom for you.
In habitat, it is evergreen with no rest period. If grown in a pot and forced to rest during the winter, it reportedly blooms in the spring. Based on the limited information that is available regarding Hippeastrum species, I try to provide similar conditions to those found in habitat. Sometimes, this is impossible. Then, I simply do my best to learn what each species needs to thrive under the conditions, which I am able to provide, through vigilant observation.

Smiles,

Blanca

Thanks for all those explanations very usefull, sure I should grow my mandonii dryier now.

And maybe nelsonii will stay evergrenn if kept in the greenhouse with positive temperature (in ðC) ?

How do you grow your nelsonii Blanca ?

Béatrice

Hi Béatrice,

Sorry that it took me so long to reply. In preparation for winter, I've been doing a major cleaning of all my growing areas. I haven't finished yet. It is a huge job!

My H. nelsonii spent the summer outside in a shady spot. It will spend the winter months indoors in one of the unheated solariums where I also grow H. bukasovii, and H. mandonii. I hope that it will remain happy and thrive.

I will try to write soon.

Cheers,

Blanca

This post was edited by blancawing on Mon, Oct 20, 14 at 4:31

to orchids-grower-1946,

Bonjour Georges , excuse moi, je n'avais pas vu ton post , c'est Donna qui me l'a signalé, je viens de t'envoyer un message.

Bonjour Agapanthe64,je n'ai pas eu de message, le mieux c'est de demandé àDonna qu'elle te donne mon adresse email. Excuse moi pour le désagrément . Orchids-growers-1946

Chère Béatrice,

What an exciting development!

I look forward to seeing the flowers with great anticipation.

Of course, I will also be dreaming about the interesting possibilities for seeds.

avec toute mon amitié,

Blanca

You're right , I completely forgot the seeds ! I am so worried for not having a mislabelled that I forgot the seeds.
What could be interesting ?
I have papilio , yungacence , chico , santos, Autumn pink lady... many pollens in the fridge.

Agapanthe64,

Komoriya nursery did not have any H. nelsonii for sale this year. I was wondering if you had any to trade..

I will send you a message, hope you do not mind.
thx

Well, I'm very happy so say that I have a healthy looking scape on my nelsonii!!! My bulb isn't as vigorous as Beatrice's but I'm so pleased!! Take a look....it won't be long!!

Donna

This is an interesting and useful thread! I was fortunate to receive h.nelsonii from Béatrice recently (thank you!), plus I'm hoping my h.mandonii will bloom this summer.

My sin is that I tend to run my hipps a little too dry. Aulicum and calyptratum seem to be ok with this, but looking at Béatrice's nelsonii, more organic material is necessary in the potting medium for my nelsonii. It's moderately humid here in Connecticut during the summer so I can get away with very fast-draining material, but the rest of the year is a different story. In a recent posting here, I included information on my mandonii, which obviously liked the more organic medium and plastic pot, although I may not go quite that heavy with the nelsonii medium.

Thanks!

Rick in CT

Rick, since you've resurrected this thread I thought I'd add my stellar success with nelsonii as both a seed parent as well as a pollen donor to this thread!!

I think I mentioned this earlier that in order to double my chances of getting some viable seeds on my two nelsonii flowers I selfed them both and simultaneously put papilio on one and Exotic Star on the other. Well, both took and the seeds were all good and are now germinating for me!! I've been advised by some experts on this forum that I most likely would have needed two different clones of nelsonii for the selfed seeds to have taken so I can assume (hopefully) that they are indeed x papilio & Exotic Star!! I also put nelsonii pollen on Komoriya's Deja Vu and Chico and got viable seeds from both!! Chico's seeds are very small but some are already sprouting. The Deja Vu seeds just hit the water! All of nelsonii's seeds were good, (the ones that matured,) there were no seeds with the usual white spots. I am psyched!!

I'm hoping I can keep my plant happy, she is now putting up a new leaf to add to the seven she already has.☺☺☺Donna

That is great! Congratulations!

The nelsonii×self was of course a dud?

--Rr

I thought I'd add this previous thread on nelsonii with pictures, to this thread so they'll all be together. This is the first time I've added a link, hope it works.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2986296/nelsoniidoes-anyone-know?n=32

As far as my seeds go, the truth won't be known until they start to bloom, hopefully in about 4 years, at the very worst, I'll just be inundated with little nelsonii's☺☺Donna