One of four Lampranthus I have growing in my conservatory has died;
as far as I can see, the case was that its small roots have rotted
away, but there is no evidence of why (no signs of fungi, weevil or
anything). The others and layers from the same one in the same
conservatory border are fine.

The one difference is that it was smack bang under an Aloe ciliaris,
but others are well within the root zone of that.

Any ideas as to what might have happened?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 2014-01-18 11:38:31 +0000, Nick Maclaren said:

One of four Lampranthus I have growing in my conservatory has died;
as far as I can see, the case was that its small roots have rotted
away, but there is no evidence of why (no signs of fungi, weevil or
anything). The others and layers from the same one in the same
conservatory border are fine.

The one difference is that it was smack bang under an Aloe ciliaris,
but others are well within the root zone of that.

Any ideas as to what might have happened?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Totally wild guess - could the Aloe have given off moisture or humidity
affecting the plant? Ray says - as you'll know - that it doesn't take
much to kill off Lampranthus if they're wet. We've got a couple outside
still which are pretty much an experiment. They're right on the edge of
a low wall, so we'll see if they drain well enough to survive - if the
cold doesn't get them.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

In article ,
sacha wrote:

One of four Lampranthus I have growing in my conservatory has died;
as far as I can see, the case was that its small roots have rotted
away, but there is no evidence of why (no signs of fungi, weevil or
anything). The others and layers from the same one in the same
conservatory border are fine.

The one difference is that it was smack bang under an Aloe ciliaris,
but others are well within the root zone of that.

Any ideas as to what might have happened?

Totally wild guess - could the Aloe have given off moisture or humidity
affecting the plant? Ray says - as you'll know - that it doesn't take
much to kill off Lampranthus if they're wet. We've got a couple outside
still which are pretty much an experiment. They're right on the edge of
a low wall, so we'll see if they drain well enough to survive - if the
cold doesn't get them.

Thanks very much.

In the strict sense, quite the converse! It makes the soil in that
location very dry. But it is possible that I overcompensated when
watering, and so it is my fault.

The border goes down to the subsoil, so the established aloe needs
no watering, but the relatively new Lampranthus did get a bit,
because they went a bit floppy - of course, if the reason for that
was that the conservatory got a bit chilly (well above freezing,
though), I would have done precisely the wrong thing :-(


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 2014-01-18 12:53:33 +0000, Nick Maclaren said:

In article ,
sacha wrote:

One of four Lampranthus I have growing in my conservatory has died;
as far as I can see, the case was that its small roots have rotted
away, but there is no evidence of why (no signs of fungi, weevil or
anything). The others and layers from the same one in the same
conservatory border are fine.

The one difference is that it was smack bang under an Aloe ciliaris,
but others are well within the root zone of that.

Any ideas as to what might have happened?

Totally wild guess - could the Aloe have given off moisture or humidity
affecting the plant? Ray says - as you'll know - that it doesn't take
much to kill off Lampranthus if they're wet. We've got a couple outside
still which are pretty much an experiment. They're right on the edge of
a low wall, so we'll see if they drain well enough to survive - if the
cold doesn't get them.

Thanks very much.

In the strict sense, quite the converse! It makes the soil in that
location very dry. But it is possible that I overcompensated when
watering, and so it is my fault.

The border goes down to the subsoil, so the established aloe needs
no watering, but the relatively new Lampranthus did get a bit,
because they went a bit floppy - of course, if the reason for that
was that the conservatory got a bit chilly (well above freezing,
though), I would have done precisely the wrong thing :-(


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Apparently, they're notoriously tricky. That's why it was so
frustrating to get out of the helicopter on Tresco and see great banks
of them blazing at us!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

One of four Lampranthus I have growing in my conservatory has died;
as far as I can see, the case was that its small roots have rotted
away, but there is no evidence of why (no signs of fungi, weevil or
anything). The others and layers from the same one in the same
conservatory border are fine.

The one difference is that it was smack bang under an Aloe ciliaris,
but others are well within the root zone of that.

Any ideas as to what might have happened?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Doesn't help with your Lampranthus problem, but how do you keep slugs/snails
off the Aloe? I have one and it gets chewed to bits, It got it from Sacha
and Ray to try outside, and so far it has gone through the last 3 winters,
but its a hollow victory as only the spare I kept inside bothers to flower!
and that always looks a mess.
--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 18 Jan 2014 22:31:06 -0000, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:



Doesn't help with your Lampranthus problem, but how do you keep
slugs/snails
off the Aloe? I have one and it gets chewed to bits, It got it from Sacha
and Ray to try outside, and so far it has gone through the last 3 winters,
but its a hollow victory as only the spare I kept inside bothers to
flower!
and that always looks a mess.

I grow Aloe striatula outside; it's the only one that has survived
with me, even allowing for the fact that we only get light frosts
here, very rarely below -2C. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloe_striatula, although Wiki describes
it as a 'climbing aloe'. It doesn't show much tendency to climb with
me but forms a bush about 3ft tall and across. Copes well with salt
gales.

--

Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales

Oddly I also tried Aloe striatula but as you say its a short plant so I
didn't give it a wall like the A cilliaris with the result it didn't last
even the first month of its first winter!

In article ,
Charlie Pridham wrote:

Doesn't help with your Lampranthus problem, but how do you keep slugs/snails
off the Aloe? I have one and it gets chewed to bits, It got it from Sacha
and Ray to try outside, and so far it has gone through the last 3 winters,
but its a hollow victory as only the spare I kept inside bothers to flower!
and that always looks a mess.

They don't seem to touch it. That might be because its location isn't
adjacent to any slug and snail habitats and the nearest vent opens out
onto a paved area. But I don't get many flowers.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.