I fell in love with it when i saw it in the greenhouses of a friend of mine. His plant was in "her" twenties and consisted of 5 bulbs with many dead shouts which builded up a "nest" around "her" body. It surely was a beautiful view.
I pleaded for seeds and started sowing them the very next day.
My plant was born in 2008 and is only one out of the bunch of my seedlings. I cultivate "her" like a bonsai and "her" culture really is very easy.
SCHIZOBASIS consists of only one species. It is a member of the family HYCINTHACEAE, a sister group of the family THEMIDACEAE, and a near relative to the AGAVACEAE.
In 2004 a botanist publicated his work on the HYACINTHACEAE. He rearranged some genera and SCHIZOBASIS will be now DRIMIA.
You may find "her" from Ethiopia along East Africa down to South Africa and South West Africa. I have not found something more detailed information. So i cannot tell you if it is confined only to the coastal parts of these countries or may be found in their central parts too.
The bulbs may grow up to 6 cm in diameter - so some authors say - but i have never seen a bulb bigger than a walnut. All plants i have seen were build up to a handful of bulbs.
The culture...
Treat "her" like your cacti or succulents. "Her" growing season will start when she sends "her" shoots out of the bulb. This will be around February, March or April. The sun and warmth you will give her at this time will be the starting signal. Over the spring and summer i give her the normal mass of fertilizer and water i will offer my other cacti too. My SCHIZOBASIS INTRICATA stands in full sun and has to endure the typical weather here in South Germany.
When "her" shoots start yellowing i cut off the watering. This may be in September, October or November. I put "her" under a shelter and let "her" stand outside as long as possible. Only if the temperature drops under 10 °C i will take "her" inside. During the winter i don t give her any water and the temperature will range from 10 °C up to 15 °C. "She" might stand 5 °C too but i never tried doing this.
The substrate is a mixture of peat and lava as 1 to 1. I only water if the whole substrate is dry.
"She" flowers very early in summer and the fruits are born without some help. The black seeds can be harvested some weeks later on.
Sowing is really annoying. You really have to wait a long time because the growth of the seedlings is very very very slow. But anyway sowing is very easy.
Give SCHIZOBASIS INTRICATA a try. The older "she" grows the lovelier "she" will look.
thank you so much for your kind, indeed, loving narrative. I am out in Western Colorado, perhaps closer in climate, albeit significantly colder in the winter months than the homeland of your Lady! :~)
ReplyDeleteHow long did it take for your seeds to sprout? I just sewn mine last week. Have seen nothing yet.
ReplyDeleteMy seeds germinate in the first 2 weeks.
ReplyDeleteI harvest my seeds from my own plants. They are self fertile and I have never seen any bee or insect doing "their business" on the flowers. Sowing temperature will be around 20 to 25 C - or sometimes until 30 C.
Mine has a bulb about 4.5 inches in diameter, and hasn't split in the years I've had it. I wonder what I'm doing (in) correctly?
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteI have been looking for some more info but it's hard to find. How much time you needed for the first flowering?