I don't blame you - that is a gorgeous display! Great growing! - J

Wow Nosometer,

That's one gorgeous display and I wouldn't separate them until it seems they have outgrown the pot!! Sure wish mine looked like that!!

I wonder what your secret is....

Nguyen, Hopefully yours will look like this too in a few years!!

Donna☺☺

A mass in the pot looks good, but you can't keep it that way forever, the way those are dividing.

"Tango" / "La Paz" - recently united into "La Pango" - inofficially well understood, is a quite vigorous hybrid, which withstands neglection. I have mine for 9 years now, and I am about to obtain 6 scapes from 3 bulbs. The geometry of the flower and the color profile are quite not spectacular, but it is absolutely a keeper. Thank you for your documentation, I like the performance as shown in your 2nd foto, where the appearance is similar with "Bogota"

Noseo--that is a wonderful display from your plant! You started with 1 bulb in what looks like an 8" pot, and now have how many conjoined bulbs in...how large a pot? I'm going to hang a picture of that near my papilios, so maybe they'll get the idea....?

What conditions do they get during the year? Do you put them outdoors during the summer? Ever give them full sun? (...maybe not full sun in ABQ) Cool, somewhat dryer winters?

Dung--the baby cast-off bulbs are great, can be used for swaps, gifts to friends, etc

--Rick

Wow that is beautiful! What are you feeding them? I must be doing things all wrong lol.

Thanks for the encouragement, guys!

dung: You are going to have a nice clump soon! I'd love to see the progress.

dbarron: I know! I'm not excited about dividing it. Maybe when I have to divide it, I can keep them in clumps. I don't like the single-stem-to-a-pot look.

haweha and Periodot: Yep. The individual flowers are okay but not terribly exciting, but when it matures as a clump, it is wonderful. I'm glad I kept it.

Rick and Jessian63: It is now in an 8" grower's deep pot (from Lowe's). If it is any consolation, my papilio is not as prolific, with only 4 or so bulbs in the pot at almost the same age, and the flowers appear sequentially, so it has a longer but not as dramatic performance.

The culture I give them is boring and rather haphazard, to be honest. I keep my Hippeastrum in the garage in a south facing window over the winter since winter is well below freezing here. I don't remove the leaves and over the winter the older leaves slowly yellow and dry. I ignore them (almost no water) until February/March when I see buds coming up, although sometimes I bring them in the house earlier if I want some color. If I force them too soon, then the leaves grow in the lower light of indoors and get brittle and lanky, then when I put them out, the wind tears off the leaves and they get sunburned. I try to put them in a spot where they get little wind (55 mph today!), morning sun and afternoon shade. In early spring when it is still cool and the sun less intense, I put them in full sun, and bring them indoors at night since it gets below freezing (a lot of juggling). I water them when I remember, and they usually dry out twice a week when it gets hot in the summer. I have to keep saucers under them with water to keep them from drying out faster when it is in the 90's and humidity is in the teens. I think I fertilized 3 or 4 times last summer (with, I'm embarrassed to say, Miraclegro), but again, rather haphazardly. I should probably put reminders on my calendar.

I think that 'La Paz' does particularly well for me because it doesn't grow leaves in the winter, and leafs out well after bloom, so that the narrow wind-resistant leaves appear just when the weather is warm enough to leave the plants outside. 'Minerva' and 'Ruby Star' are particularly bad about growing leaves early, and having broad leaves that are repeatedly torn off by the winds.

I was just a little disappointed with 'La Paz' when I first got it in 2012. Long spindly stem, and spidery flowers.

Has it changed?

Long spindly stem (I just measured 81 cm on the longest stem, which is the first stem of the original bulb) and spidery flowers are typical of original (F1) hybrids in respect to H.cybister. This won't change. The most conspicuous property of the bloom of Tango/La Paz - or "LaPango" if you will :) is the frilly edges on the fully matured floret. This property can be transferred to the progeny, the anecdotal evidence provided from a hybrid, namely with "Striped Panther" (a fragrant trumpet with a totally "unfrilly" bloom.) Frilliness contributes considerably to the attractivity of a flower, whether it is spidery or with broad segments. I have my "LaPango" in bloom right now, and I will have H.cybister "Reggae" in bloom in few weeks. "Reggae" is very "willing" when it comes to seed production (well, the individual seed pod bears but very few seeds, less than 25) but I will definitely try and crosspollinate from "La Pango"

I'd love to see photos, haweha!

Me too :-)))

My memory deceived me. The anecdotal evidence was a seedling of "Tango" pollinated from "Pink Floyd". The respective images were removed by the user, but two thumbnails can still be accessed via "exotenforum" "tango" "pink floyd"

It is the two images with the virtual watermark "Muster" diagonally on them. The frilly edges are unmissable

Looks like a whole new breeding line in the making.

Thanks everybody! I will send some small Lapaz to friends who wants them, I believe the big Lapaz will continue to give bublets.