Repotted Haemanthus albiflos.....

And now I have the bottom leaves yellowing. Concern myself, or is it just a sign of how sensitive they are to repotting. I scaled the pot up pretty substationally as the plant was quite root bound. And as with succulents no water after repotting.

Am I doing something wrong. All I want is a flower. This is a plant that I got 2 years ago and it has just had 2 leaves until this winter when earlier it started to grow, but it never sent a bud. I re-potted as the plant was getting bigger than the pot.

They get grouchy for a while when you repot. Don't be worried.

Can you share a picture?

Yeah, its probably dropping them, and will pout for months, but its twice its size of a year ago, and was root bound.

H. albiflos is evergreen, so it won't be dropping ALL its leaves. The two new leaves look great, so I wouldn't be worried about it. You can go ahead and water - mine are outside all year round, so get LOTS of water in the winter/spring.

I could only wish mine were outside all year around. Thanks for the confidence, Faeden.

Well, if you do lose it just let me know - I have lots of them! They're one of the few Haemanthus which make lots of new bulbs really easily. The others do, but it takes a long time and they only make a few at a time.

Just to make you feel bad (LOL!!) - I think I'm going to put all of mine in the ground this year.

Well, my geophyte Cyclamen longituba? I found out is an outside plant around here. I bought it in a 4" pot, and now it is 18" tall and I think I need to repot it to about a half gallon it will freak out even in my covered garden due to the 40F nights which are not inside the house.

Kewl! Do you have pics?

Generally not a good idea to repot to a pot that's a whole lot bigger. Something about how the roots don't get into the new soil quick enough and that 'empty' soil gets nasty fungus and stuff. So go from a 4" to a six or eight, but not larger than that.

Speaking of Haemanthus, I have had a red one for 2 years now. I brought it inside during the fall, and it went dormant during the winter. This winter it did not and is continuing to grow. Show I be concerned about it not having a rest?

LOL, I have no idea. Google it.

Molamola, that's not true of H. albiflos. They like being overpotted and will make more bulbs this way.

Deebie, I wouldn't worry about it. For some reason mine (Haemanthus coccineus) didn't really go dormant this year either, and they're just fine.

Thank you for the reassurance.

OK! Way cool. Most potted plants have to be up-potted carefully.

You're both very welcome. Glad to help.

Reading thru these older threads and I have a question. I have two pots of H. albiflos that are proving this statement wrong.

Podster, I stand by my statement. That has been my experience with this plant over at least 15 years growing them.

I don't think the bigger plant (on the right) is H. albiflos. Although albiflos's leaves can get to 18", they should be prostrate rather than upright. In addition, albiflos pups like crazy. Your smaller plant could be albiflos or a hybrid of it. Its leaves are also a lot more upright than albiflos leaves usually are. Are both plants evergreen? What color are the flowers?

I would say yes to evergreen as that photo was taken last week and this one ( the larger plants' bloom ) was taken Dec. 2009. Does this bloom favor the H. albiflos? The other bulb had the same bloom but a bit smaller.

This is the root system on the taller plant.

Yes, they do have some great roots, don't they? Your bloom definitely looks like H. albiflos. After taking a look at the other two evergreen species of Haemanthus, I think that your larger plant might be an H. albiflos hybrid. I have 3-4 of these, and in every case the leaves are much larger and the plant is still evergreen, but they don't pup like the straight H. albiflos does.

I wondered if being rootbound has cause the erect stature of the plant.

This photo was the same two plants in March 09 ~ they were virtually the same size and posture.


At any rate, I guess I need to divide and pot up the others to a larger pot.

I don't think so. I have 3-4 pots of H. albiflos, and all are rootbound and potbound. They retain their prostrate posture and bloom their little heads off in winter.

Keep in mind that Haemanthus in general don't like being disturbed. If I were you I wouldn't be repotting them unless they really needed it.

This little pot is only 4" x 4" and has 12 pups as well as the original large bulb. I thought it at least needed a larger diameter pot?

I appreciate your knowledge and experience with these. Thanks for the assistance... pod

I didn't realize yours were in such small pots. You certainly should repot it. Mine are all in gallon pots and one has more than a dozen bulbs in it.

Thanks ~ I'm thinking that needs to be on the agenda but from what I've read, should have been done early spring after blooming. Your assistance is appreciated.

Not to worry - if you pot them now, all that might happen is that you'll lose whatever winter blooms you might have had.

Haemantus is a winter bloomer? Does any one around here grow Hippeastrum (common Amarillis) after forcing for the holidays?

Yes, mine bloomed in winter but it was in the GH.

No, on the Amaryllis, sorry.

Faeden ~ would the H. albiflos prefer a shallow pot or a deep one?

Yes, Haemanthus bloom in late fall/early winter.

Podster, given the amount of roots they have I'd put them in deeper pots. All of mine are on 1 gallon nursery pots and probably should be repotted, but I'm going to put them in the ground.

Thanks... I would wish I could put them in ground but don't have enough to want to risk losing them.

This message was edited Aug 1, 2010 7:03 PM

I understand. I have pretty good circumstances under which to grow them in the ground. It doesn't get too hot here, and I have a large tree which gives the shade and frost protection they need. But I only get frost a few nights a year for a few hours each night. Temps don't usually get much below 40F at night and are normally in the 50s or higher in the day in the winter.

That leaves me out for sure! lol Under those conditions, are your bulbs deciduous?

Evergreen bulbs are always evergreen, no matter the temps. The ones I have which are deciduous will remain deciduous.

One reason I was curious is the large one has held its' leaves. The other bulb has shed its' leaves but it is still green so I am hoping it is still alive.
I just read that these will hold no more than two pair of leaves. When the third pair sprouts, the oldest set of leaves yellow and shed. It also said when a plant is several years old it will produce offsets. These two were acquired at the same time as the same type of bulb. The one producing all the new plants has always been smaller. I wonder if it is dying and attempting to reproduce.

The pot with all the smaller bulbs is evergreen? The one which is single has no leaves? Or the other way around? I'm a little confused.

Other way around... the smaller bulb (and smaller pot) has no leaves but has produced lots of new small bulbs with leaves. The larger has leaves. Sorry.

Somehow I lost it when you mentioned that the main bulb had no leaves but the smaller bulbs did. Sorry!

Now I don't know what to say. In this picture (http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8007768), which is what I was going by, I assumed all of the bulbs in the pot on the left had leaves. If the main bulb doesn't have leaves I don't know what's going on. It should have leaves if the other bulbs do. Can you carefully peel back part of the bulb in a couple of places to see if it has mealies? Both pots of bulbs certainly look healthy. I think the only other reason why an evergreen bulb would lose its leaves is because it wasn't being watered enough. But again, the other bulbs in the pot have leaves, so that doesn't make sense.

I wouldn't worry about losing the bulb as long as it's firm, nice and green and healthy.

As to the leaves, yes, Haemanthus usually only have two sets of leaves, and when they get a new set the old ones yellow and die. Were you reading about H. albiflos or Haemanthus in general? It's been my experience that H. albiflos is much more vigorous than other Haemanthus re blooming and offsetting at a much younger age.

Haemanthus in general although a few different cultivars were mentioned specificallly. I will check the naked bulb for mealies or rot when I repot them. Also will take photos if I find anything curious... thanks. pod

The flipping thing has a bloom spike showing up. Maybe it doesn't need a new owner after all!

HOORAY FOR YOU!!!! Keep us informed as to its progress. Mine are still sitting here doing nothing. I don't expect much from them until about October. Yours might be blooming earlier because it's colder & damper there than here.