The hippeastrum report

[lblanchard]

I potted on the Class of 2012 ('papilio' x 'emerald') today. Nine little seedlings, which is plenty, given my [lack of] windowsill space. I made a useful discovery in the process: if I unpot them, knock off as much soil as possible, and then soak the remaining tangled rootball in water for a few minutes, it's easy to tease the plants' roots apart without tearing any. One hopes that will lessen the transplant shock. They're in a pot almost as big as the pots I've used for the Class of 2011 and I hope they won't need to be re-potted for a good while.

I see no ants on the planter full of Class of 2009. I'll bring them in this weekend and put one of those ant traps on the little table, next to the planter, just to be on the safe side. They've had their last watering until the holidays -- time for plants to go sleepy-bye.

The original, and possibly virus-bearing, Class of 2006 look just fine to me. I'll keep all those guys downstairs, and keep a watchful eye for biting insects. No one comes in from outside without a big dose of chemicals.

Comments

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

Ants...nasty buggers. They get into my flowerpots even on the enclosed porch. I fill the drainage plates with ant powder and that seems to do it.

If a "baby" sprouts from the side of a bulb should I leave it there? My one hippeastrum has an "offspring" that has grown like that. It's very vigorous but could it flower?

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

It could indeed flower, once it reaches some size. This is your plant with the glossy leaves and no flowers, right? Make sure it gets really pot-bound, and give it a "rest" period of scant watering. That might wake it up to its responsibilities. If you give hippeastrum too much lebensraum they figure they can throw offsets instead of going through the bother of sending up a flower stalk, but eventually the offset, too, will bloom.By the time my late, lamented Trade Joe NOID succumbed to the virus, both it and its two offsets had been blooming their heads off for several years.

The planter has a built-in drainage thing, so ant powder won't work, but an ant trap nearby may do the same job.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's the plant. VERY healthy leaf growth and now an offspring. I'll let up with the watering now and see what happens between now and Christmas.