On Aug 8, 6:25 pm, "Keith Kent" wrote:
Hi ,i potted the tuber of gloriosa months ago and nothing at all has
happened.I potted it into john innes horizontally,it snapped into 2 pieces
when i took it out of the pot to check its growth.
Any ideas?
Thanks Keith

I grew up in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and the Gloriosa Surperba,
( there are three varieties) the Rothchildiana comes from central
Africa where the Surperba and the Simplex more south) was at the time
the national flower. In my experience as I have grown all three they
are one and the same. They used to grow in dappled shade e.g. under a
tree .They appeared after the first rains.
But after saying that I now grow them here in Cape Town and in the
recent hot weather with very dry conditions, they are flourishing
without any shade. I have noticed that they wait for the weather to
warm up sufficiently before they awaken, so times vary. I lived in
Essex for a time, near Maldon and grew some in a pot under a tree,
once it appeared it grew very quickly. The bulbs are very brittle
hence yours breaking while handling it, but they should still grow if
you buried the pieces. In my experience with these plants they are
very hardy and need very little tending. I have discovered if you feed
them and pamper them they will reward you tenfold but having said that
if you treat them with nothing they still perform. In a few years they
will have multiplied quite a lot. Each year the corms push themselves
further and further down. So if you have them in a pot, in about 5yrs
time, you should consider planting them into the open ground.
Good luck
Dawn