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Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom Gb

I bought a bigish bag of Acidanrthera bulbs this spring and have been very disappointed to see no flowers at all. I think now the bulbs must have been a bargain bag of immature ones. Do you think there's any point in overwintering them? I have some in pots and some in the ground. I've overwintered some before successfully but don't know whether it would be worth keeping non flowerers in case they still are too small. Any ideas please? I've only grown them once before (when they did overwinter successfully once) but can't remember how big the successful bulbs were.




Answers

 

Never managed to get them to flower even when planted as big corms. They never survived the winter either, in the ground or in the pots or in paper bags in a frost free shed. The corms just shrivelled up and died, no matter what I did.
From what I read they have to be fed, fed and fed again Feeding has to begin as soon as they are planted and continued throughout the growing season.

20 Sep, 2021

 

Wow. I must have been very lucky when I grew them some years ago! Perhaps this explains why I found a big bag cheap...]
Oh dear, that is very disappointing. Guess I can feed them at this late date as perhaps being better than nothing... I have them in several places,- large urn, small urn, pot and ground.
They haven't been fed at all as I've been out of action most of the summer.

20 Sep, 2021

 

Like Owd I have never had any success either, not even with big bulbs. I get the odd leaf showing but then nothing. its a shame as I do like them very much.

20 Sep, 2021

 

Well I can send you some leaves if you like! I have lots of those... I'll try overwintering - who knows?

20 Sep, 2021

 

Did you try keeping them dry through the summer? I have them every year, and they don't come up until the beginning of fall. I don't provide any water during the summer, and they seem to do just fine and will be in flower next month.

24 Sep, 2021

 

No I only bought them this year. But I was really pleased to see that there are several flower buds now after all! Most of them I put in pots but it is those in the ground that have decided to flower! Am really impatient for them to open now!

28 Sep, 2021

 

Well folks, I was panicking too soon - there are now seven flowering stems with open flowers and lots of buds. If I can keep them over the winter I'll try to remember about all the feeding necessary ! Its quite a small proportion of the bulbs I planted though, so If I'd only bought a dozen there might well have been no show. Keeping them dry in a Welsh summer would be a challenge though for those planted in the ground!

7 Oct, 2021

 

glad they are flowering [well some are] and I know what you mean about the weather you get.

7 Oct, 2021

 

You will be surprised how fast they multiply. 1 bulb will have 10-15 small bulbs for you to baby. They do well in large pots.

8 Oct, 2021

 

I'm delighted to say there are now lots more flowers! Its not an ideal plant for our climate is it, but its fantastic to see all those tall white flowers at this time of year!

20 Oct, 2021

 

I hope you took the time to smell them - very strong scent. I actually got my bulbs in Germany, in a grocery store in 1994.

22 Oct, 2021

How do I say thanks?

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