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Geoforce
My Weather
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - 07:31 am EST : |   
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In a temporary mental blackout after looking at all these lovely photos, I went to eBay and purchased some C. hederifolium tubers. This was particularly stupid of me, as I at least have learned from these threads that it is NOT the correct time to be replanting them, and they are probably dried out, leftovers. I have too little restraint sometimes.
They should arrive within a day or so. I seem to see all of you use a strongly drained, mix, but also some use soil-free, and some use soil base. I'm thinking of a 1/1/1 potting soil/vermiculite/perlite. Also should I water heavily, lightly,?? Is a 1/8" granite grit okay as topping, or should I go to a coarser variety (1/4" or even larger)?
I'll try to get into the seed route next year. Too little room left for them this winter.
TIA
Geoforce
- Pennsylvania,
Zone "USDA 7a"
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Terryk
My Weather
My Garden
My Time
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - 08:58 am EST : |
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George, I know all too well how suddenly you just can't resist the urge and go order something.
I think you could do just a 1/2 soil mix (such as a seed starting type) and half perlite. You probably want to give them a good watering once you have potted them up. As far as the grit goes I like a course grit, I don't like chick grit (sorry I don't really know sizes). If you have to put them somewhere in the house aim for a cooler spot. Mine are downstairs and the room has gone down into the 40's and they are doing fine. I even checked my temperature records from last year and the room got down into the mid 30's and they were fine. After the initial watering you want to just give them enough to have a small amount drip out. You want to check the soil, even below the surface a bit. If damp hold off for a few days and check again. If Tim answers with anything different, go with his advise over mine, he is the expert here.
Hopefully you will see some very tiny growth start to appear soon. Good luck.
Terryk
- NY,
Zone "6"
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Terryk
My Weather
My Garden
My Time
| | Posted on Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 09:29 pm EST : |
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Did your tubers arrive yet?
Terryk
- NY,
Zone "6"
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Geoforce
My Weather
| | Posted on Friday, December 09, 2005 - 07:32 am EST : |
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Terry,
Thanks for your interest. They arrived. About as I expected, they were quite dessicated, no roots at all, and had started to sprout leaves (little stretched ghostly things because of no light). I soaked them overnight in cool water, and they plumped up nicely, then planted them and watered well in a 1/1 peat-based mix/perlite blend media, then placed in a south window in an unheated room (45-50F). Should they be in warmer temperatures? That was on Saturday. The leaves are quite turgid and living looking, but still have not started to green up, and no new growth is apparent yet. Probably will take a couple of weeks to tell if they are growing or dieing.
Tubers were in a printed package saying product of Turkey. Don't know if this means they were wild collected, or seedlings raised there?
George
Geoforce
- Pennsylvania,
Zone "USDA 7a"
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Terryk
My Weather
My Garden
My Time
| | Posted on Friday, December 09, 2005 - 09:16 am EST : |
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Let's hope Tim pops in and has time to answer. My uneducated guess is they should be fine, they may just take some time to get established. They sometimes take a while to get going. I have some c. hederifolium that are supposed to produce pink flowers and they seem so much less robust than the ones that are to have white flowers.
I think your temperatures should be fine, mine are exposed to this temperature range and are going along fine. I believe Tim says he keeps his glasshouse a few degrees above freezing and look at his beauties.
As far as whether your tubers were wild collected or not, I could not answer. Tim has been to Turkey with they cyclamen society, maybe he can tell you.
Terryk
- NY,
Zone "6"
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Tim
| | Posted on Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 11:05 am EST : |
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There are still wild collected cyclamen tubers finding their way onto the market unfortunately. On a brighter note, villagers in the more rural parts of Turkey are being taught that conservation is important, not only for the survival of the plants, but also for the income the trade generates for them.
Even if the tubers are wild collected, it doesn't mean that it was done so illegally. A certain amount of tubers of each species are allowed to be collected from wild populations each year. I think the figure for hederifolium is well over one million tubers per annum.
There are also nurseries starting to propagate cyclamen on quite a large scale too. We visited a huge operation on the outskirts of Izmir, where there were hundreds of thousands of tubers being grown.
I wonder George, if they are definitely hederifolium. It seems awfully late for that species, although if they have been kept dry, that might account for there being no roots (the roots are often stripped prior to shipping too). Were they shipped from Turkey, or somewhere in the US? Any chance of a photo? If they are hederifolium, you should see roots appearing mainly from the top of the tuber.
I favour the method of planting tubers like this with the top of the tuber showing above the compost surface. so that at least the top stays dry. All I can say is keep them moist, not soaking, and try to keep the air moving around the tubers if you can. I'd keep them cooler rather than warm. Too warm and the tubers may rot.
Tim
- Cambridgeshire,
Zone "7 "
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Geoforce
My Weather
| | Posted on Saturday, December 10, 2005 - 02:11 pm EST : |
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Thanks for your input Tim. I only soaked them immediately after planting to settle the mix and have not watered them since as the weight indicates they are still moist. I had planted them as you advised with the tuber tops at or slightly above the compost and then a 1/4" layer of grit over everything. There were no roots or even signs of root scars on them. Only the spindly beginnings of leaves, and what appeared to have been an aborted flower on one of them.
Although the packaging said "Product of Turkey", they were obviously packed and transhipped from the US.
Geoforce
- Pennsylvania,
Zone "USDA 7a"
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