Frank....under ideal conditions the color of the flower should be intense and the plant strong. I don't think that it's any more resistant to disease than the other hybrids. We are hearing that Papilio and its crosses my have some resistance to virus, but Naranja is not a Pap cross.

If a plant doesn't perform well for you the first year, they tend to get better with age as the bulb matures. Several of use had been looking forward to getting a particular hybrid last year, and we got very stressed bulbs and were disappointed by the blooms, but we saw the potential in the bulbs and hope that we see great blooms in the next couple of seasons.

You said that you aren't patient... you need to find some!
:-)
Kristi

kaboehm/Kristi....

Thanks for giving some information about these bulbs. I wondered if a bulb/Hipp. takes a couple of years to "settle-in" to its new pot and the cultural conditions provided by the new grower. Thanks for that information, too. Now, I know.

Kristi, I've read in more than a few postings about "stressed bulbs". Can you explain what this condition is, and are there signs of this stress when one receives newly delivered bulbs, or, does stress show up only in the blooming cycle? Will correct culture "un-stress" the bulb?

Can you estimate about how long it may take for a bulb to be considered mature, and, hit its stride? What are the differences between a younger bulb vs. a bulb that's mature? More flowers?...more frequent flowering?...more off-sets?...all of these?

Thanks for the answers....and advise.

Frank

We did get stressed bulbs last year, particularly of "Sweet Nymph" so do a search for "Sweet" and see what was said. I don't recall the actual cause of the stress...grower, harvest, storage??

Since it takes 2-3 years for a bulb to bloom, it may be another 2-3 years for it to be in its natural prime (many don't bloom the next year, but wait 2 cycles, so by that time the bulb is 4-5 years old. Remember, the bulbs arrive in your mailbox grown to perfection to give a good bloom, but it may not be their best bloom. First/second years are not necessarily the best blooms. Some of us had a discussion last year about Apple Blossoms that we had had for years and how amazing they were. Mature bulbs are the ones that tend to provide offsets...although as a survival mechanism, younger bulb might and of course there are hybrids that are offset machines.

Frank...I don't think there's one hard and fast rule that can be applied accross all of the hybrids, but you'll find what is best for you.
Kristi

Kristi, et al.

Thanks for the insight. I ask a few questions and I get the benefit from years of growing experiences. Thanks for your willingness to educate this newcomer. I am in your debt.

Just ordered a super-sized monster bulb from Blooming Bulbs in Oregon. My "NARANJA" will be shipped in the coming weeks..."ROYAL VELVET" and "BOUQUET" will soon follow, ...plus, I also have Clivias coming in from California. The kitchen floor, and windowsills are going to look like a "jungle" in a few months!

I'm praying that the Hipp. bulbs will be virus-free, but IF they aren't, can Hipp. virus infect/jump onto Clivias that are growing in the same areas? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you say, no. Should I isolate these plants? How is this virus spread?

Virus is spread by contact...As Oleg said...contaminated shears, sucking insects, and I believe even by your hands. I never handle other plants after I've touched a plant know to have virus...scrub like a surgeon. When I am cutting, the only part of the plant I touch are the tops of the leaves, which are coming off. I still sterilize the knife between plants.
K

Again, thanks for the warnings and important information.

Can I assume that Clivia can catch Hipp. virus by any one of the ways listed in the last post?

Frank

I don't know...would hate to say, "No"...guess best thing is to assume, worst case scenario....YES?
K

Frank, some virus is spread between Clivia and Hippeastrum, yes!

Don't let virus take over your mindset but do be cautious as some of the Mosaic Viruses can infect other plant families as well.

Josh

K and joshey:

I'm glad you posted this advise/warning about virus infection jumping to other, similar plants, viz. Clivia-Hippeastrum contamination. Now, I'll watch for signs for potential problems.

Kristi, et al.:....Your comments about bulb maturity were very interesting.
Question: As bulbs put on age, and really reach larger sizes, is it the natural tendency of Hipps. to produce off-sets, to produce clumps, of itself, and then, will the original bulb flame-out, and die off...or, will mother bulb get larger and larger (assuming cultural needs are being met), and live to bloom another day? In your experience, can Hipp. bulbs reach very large diameters, or, are they more or less self-limiting because they will produce off-sets, instead of growing to the size of a soccer-ball? I've read about super-large bulbs,- there is a very large bulb pictured in the FAQ section on this site,- so I was just curious. Are these super-size bulbs commonly home-grown?

Frank

Frank

I just read the pazzuti posting and it just about covers all that I asked. However, I'm still interested in learning about the experiences of others regarding potential bulb size.

Frank

Frank...when I do "fall grooming" of the bulbs that have been pampered all summer, I'll measure a few for you. Also...we have had on-again/off-again discussions about bulb life and several on the list say that they they have bulbs that are 20+ years old...so, we have to go by that. I think it could be specific to certain varieties...some are definitely hardier...
K

Kristi: Thanks. Bulbs can live that long? Interesting.

Frank

Frank,

One more note about this virus..if you or anyone in your household smokes, this can also transmit the virus to your hippy bulbs..by touch and possibly by smoke (I'm not sure about the smoke)(am I right Josh?) now I'm talking cigarettes, I don't know about pipes, after all this is Tobacco Mosaic Virus...

As for the dying off of the mother bulb when it surrounds itself with bulblets, in my experience the clump just heaves itself out of the pot..with the mother bulb sort of sitting supreme in the center. A few years ago we visited a specialty nursery in MA and they had dozens of large clay pots with 6 to 10 large bulbs just heaving out of the pots..we'd never seen anything like it..the bulbs were dormant so we made a point of stopping by another time when they were blooming hoping to see some real exotics..we were so disappointed that they were just mostly Red Lion types..

Myself, I had a pot of Orange Sovereigns that I finally had to separate and the mother bulb was just fine..now of course this may not be the case for all varieties, but I would expect that you can grow clumps of just about anything..h. papilio clumps up beautifully also, and what I do is just move the entire clump to a larger pot..I suppose I should separate them, but I always take the easy way out...a clump of h. papilios in bloom is just a sight to behold...

Here a a couple of pictures of my Orange Sovereign clump from a few years ago..you can't really tell which was the mother bulb, but as you can see, nothing has shriveled...

By the way, Orange Sovereign ( mine at least) is the most prolific bulb I own..I have given about 6 away and my several pots just keep setting bulblets like rabbits..infact, I had a large bulb last year that I thought I had caught the NBF in time..I cut the larvae out, it hadn't gone in too deep and treated with Captan, and planted. Obviously I didn't do it correctly as the mother bulb died anyway, but not before setting at least 6 to 8 good sized bulblet surrounding the dying center bulb. I'm never seen anything like it..one again, I'm over run with these bulbs...

Donna{{gwi:425927}}

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Donna:

Years ago I had a very shallow bonsai pot that was filled with "Silver Squills". They multiplied very quickly and would spill over the edge of the pot, and even start growing sideways. These Hipp. bulbs seem to have the same tendencies, i.e. to form colonies by off-setting. In the wild, is that what these bulbs do before we "tame" them? And what kind of habitat do they actually/naturally prefer?

I also noted that your bulbs are buried almost up to the start of the neck. Can these bulbs be planted too deeply, and if yes, will they themselves work out of the soil until the correct depth is reached? Does planting at an incorrect depth,... too deep...too shallow... affect plant/bulb growth?

Thanks for the explanatory pics.

Frank