Amaryllis and Hippeastrums: Trimming thick basal plates, 1 by Wyckoff

Wyckoff wrote:
My professional background is Quality Assurance. I have way too much data on all my bulbs. It's a lot of work but I'm retired and the data is useful.

As an example: I measure all my bulbs. I have a plastic tree caliper which works great. I always measure the same way - straight across between the leaves. I push the caliper down in the soil so I get the fattest part of the bulb.

Visually observing a bulb isn't always enough. A bulb can have 3 or 4 beautiful leaves and look just fine but actually be declining.

The measurement tells the story. Time of year also matters. If I measure in late summer / early fall, then the measurement ought to be greater than the measurement taken at the end of blooming. The bulb had all summer to recover and grow.

If the measurement is the same or smaller, then the bulb is not thriving and I want to know why. Typically I unpot the bulb and the most common issue is a thickening Basal Plate. The earlier the problem is found and corrected, the quicker the bulb starts thriving again.

Basal Plate problems are my own fault since all my bulbs are in pots. I want the soil to have sufficient nutrients but that can make the soil heavy and damp. I should use more sand.

Measurements also tell me a bulb will lose 10 – 20 % of its mass while blooming. I measure as soon as a bud tip appears and again around the 3rd day of "full bloom". If the bulb is too small or has already lost too much mass, I don’t pollinate it.

A bulb can lose another 20% while producing seeds. I generally pollinate only 1 flower to minimize the stress to the bulb. If a second scape has appeared, I sometimes have a dilemma. If a good pollen source is also blooming, I may pollinate and then remove the second scape. Or I may wait to see what other pollen might be available and if the bulb still has enough size to handle seed production.

In my first year of serious breeding I pollinated anything and everything. A couple of bulbs died but they had lost over 50% of their mass. Most bulbs just took 2 or 3 years to recover before blooming again. It was a hard lesson to learn.

Today’s bloomer is H striatum.

Candace