I need advice on my acidanthera (new name; gladiolus callianthus).
I think I have asked a similar question before but can't find a record
of it.
I have had some corms for several years. One pot has multiplied to
two, but I only had one flower last year and so far this year plenty
of leaf but no flowers appearing.
Over the summer I have given them Phostrogen, tomato feed and lately
Chempak's 0:10:10.
They have not been repotted this year as previously they seemed to
like to be pot bound.
I don't have a position where they can have full sun all day, but one
pot gets morning sun and the other afternoon.
Any advice on what I should do now to get them to flower next year if
not this.
Do others of you have flowers yet? How do you look after them?
Where am I going wrong?


Pam in Bristol

On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 11:30:35 GMT, Pam Moore
wrote:

~I need advice on my acidanthera (new name; gladiolus callianthus).
~I think I have asked a similar question before but can't find a record
~of it.
~I have had some corms for several years. One pot has multiplied to
~two, but I only had one flower last year and so far this year plenty
~of leaf but no flowers appearing.
~Over the summer I have given them Phostrogen, tomato feed and lately
~Chempak's 0:10:10.
~They have not been repotted this year as previously they seemed to
~like to be pot bound.
~I don't have a position where they can have full sun all day, but one
~pot gets morning sun and the other afternoon.
~Any advice on what I should do now to get them to flower next year if
~not this.
~Do others of you have flowers yet? How do you look after them?
~Where am I going wrong?
~
Acidanthera are a pain for turning into lots of tiny cormlets at the
end of their flowering period. This means the following year you've
got tiddlers which only show leaf. Feed them, look after them (and
keep them frost free over winter) and you'll have bigger leaves next
year, and so on till they get back to flowering size, by which time
you'll have rather more than you started with...

It's best to buy new flowering-size corms each year till your original
potful are mature, then the cycle should be self-sustaining.

I've personally never managed to get even first year corms to flower
well - don't think they like chalk much :-(


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!

Pam Moore wrote in
:

Do others of you have flowers yet? How do you look after them?
Where am I going wrong?

I'm not sure I can tell you best practice, but...

I planted a couple of packs of bulbs last year in the hottest, sunniest
location I possess, and backs to a stone wall too.

Nothing but leaves.

In the autumn, I dug them up, and potted the largest bulbs up into a pot,
which I kept in the greenhouse till August.

I got *one* flower spike (it is a biggy, though).

I'm going to try greenhouse again next year and see what that does.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 14:05:23 +0000 (UTC), jane wrote:

Acidanthera are a pain for turning into lots of tiny cormlets at the
end of their flowering period.

That suggests that you should plant them deep. Iris danfordiae is
another bulb that splits like crazy, but if planted deeply
doesn't. Sometimes. Maybe, Perhaps.

Try planting some new acidanthera corms out next spring with at
least a foot of soil over them. Give us a report when you dig
them up for winter storage next fall.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 14:05:23 +0000 (UTC), jane wrote:

Acidanthera are a pain for turning into lots of tiny cormlets at the
end of their flowering period.

That suggests that you should plant them deep. Iris danfordiae is
another bulb that splits like crazy, but if planted deeply
doesn't. Sometimes. Maybe, Perhaps.

Try planting some new acidanthera corms out next spring with at
least a foot of soil over them. Give us a report when you dig
them up for winter storage next fall.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

Why would she dig them up? are they tender? grows like a weed here but
flowers sparsely unless new bulbs in a pot. There is obviously a knack to it
as someone is growing them to flowering size somewhere!

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs),

"Janet Baraclough.." wrote in message
...
The message
from "Charlie Pridham" contains these words:


"Rodger Whitlock" wrote in message

Try planting some new acidanthera corms out next spring with at
least a foot of soil over them.

They might get a bit waterlogged at that depth :-)

Why would she dig them up? are they tender? grows like a weed here but
flowers sparsely unless new bulbs in a pot.

Do you mulch them in winter at all?

Janet.

No, but they are very deep, I did not plant them more than 6" down but most
of the corms are deeper than that now which is why they are still there as I
can not get at them to remove them! (No point having them if they never
flower) We generally do very well with gladiolus, papilio is a particular
favourite, Have you seen the new one called 'Ruby'? its stunning :~)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)