Happy Birthday raydio!!!

To our friend who got this forum up and running, you are one of the best!

Have a wonderful day Robert!

If you use your imagination, this hipp could be out in the wilds! :)

Happy birthday from all of us on the Amaryllis forum!

Happy Birthday Robert!

May you always be blessed with love, peace, good health and hope...

bestest of birthdays, Robert

Thank-you friends!

You have made my day much nicer. I am so glad that you are in the garden yesterday, today and tomorrow.

XXX000XXX

Robert.

Hey have a great day, and here's to a great 2008-09 season!

Sue

Happy Birthday Indeed,
I will echo mariava and say "May you always be blessed with love, peace, good health and hope" ...AND MANY MANY HIPPEASTRUMS!
TTFN, KK.

Indeed! Happy Birthday!

Happy Belated Raydio! Sorry I missed this post on the day.

Never too late to spread some cheer.

Thanks knif, kael, tommy and andi!!!

R.

....sneaking in a belated Happy Birthday! I remember commiserating with you on the issue of living with our parents. I hope things are looking up for you, dear! Still the same here...

LOL!

Yes, I remember that, Ky.

What can I say, {chuckle} one day at a time?

:-)))

Happy Belated Birthday Robert. Look who opened on your birthday!! It's Grandma Dora! May the hippeastrum god give you tons of blooms this year.

Ahhh, Grandma Dora is such a sweetie and so're you! Thanks.

My GDs and striatums have scarcely had a blossom this season at all. Just a scape or two in the spring. I think that being stored in the cellar where temps were quite cold didn't suit them at all.

Even in the ground further south, they are known to perform poorly after a hard winter. I left a few small bulbs in the ground but they didn't return-- but I didn't plant them deeply.

Striatums just do better kept green all winter. I will surely have to have a couple pots in the windows this winter, so I can enjoy the summer and fall blooms again.

R.

How cold does it get? I have mine in a sorta heated basement for the fall (55 degrees F). They bloom winter and early fall.

I'm not sure how cold it got, but I know it was into the lower 40's F. There were signs that some temporary "flooding" had occurred, and I lost several cvs due to the medium being wetted during those lows.

I have let some go dormant indoors at the same temps yours were under, and they did fine although they didn't stay dormant long at all-- 6 weeks was pushing it--. Some I brought into the warmth, but some went dormant again since I didn't (couldn't!) water them since I had no light to grow them under. They survived to grow in spring, but would have fared better if I could have followed their inner schedule.

What seems to work best for me, is to let them stay green and work with the moisture levels and temps in the lower 60's at night and higher in the day. They stop growing but don't completely defoliate under the drier conditions.

If they do go totally dormant as some of mine were "forced" to, I withhold all moisture until they start to grow again on their own. Those kept totally dry showed no signs of stag or rot, but needed warmth when the moisture was given.

You must be doing it right, since you have had them for so long, but keeping them warm and green if the light is good seems to suit them best and results in three bloom periods with about 3-4 months in between.

R.

I'd like three bloom periods! Most have one-several two. Getting into low 40s here at night. Better check the wetness.

Just checked and Thursday night is 35 degrees. I've got a lot of houseplants to move in tomorrow afternoon.