Albuca spiralis - Orchid Board

MrHappyRotter · #1 05-03-2015, 04:25 PM

Albuca spiralis

Until recently, this was not a genus that was on my radar. However, I noticed the unusual foliage from across the greenhouse, then the concolor flowers that reminded me of Snowdrops (Gallanthus), and finally the strong, pleasant fragrance like cloves and vanilla and baking.

Doesn't appear to get very large, so I felt I could find it a spot on the shelves. The leaf tips have started to die back, these apparently grow in the fall, flower in spring, and then leaves die off while the bulb goes dormant in the summer.

katrina · #2 05-03-2015, 04:41 PM

Don't you love it?! I've been growing one for a little over a year now.

If you grow it drier the leaves will curl up into spirals. Hence the name, I suppose.

Paul · #3 05-03-2015, 05:50 PM

Nifty! Nice that it fragrance even "fits" with winter. How long did the flowers last?

MrHappyRotter · #4 05-03-2015, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katrina

Don't you love it?! I've been growing one for a little over a year now.

If you grow it drier the leaves will curl up into spirals. Hence the name, I suppose.

How do you grow it? I was just planning to set it in a dark corner and forget about it for a few months once the foliage is gone. Then when the foliage starts showing and the temps are cooler, I assume I can set it under the light stand and treat it like I'd treat the succulents in the summer (good light, well watered, but allowed to dry).

Yeah, I like this little thing. The problem is, every time I take a whiff of the flowers, I immediately start to crave old-fashioned carrot cake and a tall glass of milk.

---------- Post added at 04:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:53 PM ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

Nifty! Nice that it fragrance even "fits" with winter. How long did the flowers last?

I'm guessing not terribly long in my growing temps (75F - 80F). Apparently they are a cool season plant (like daffodils), so if the temps are cooler I imagine the flowers would live longer.

Of course I could place the plant outside since we're getting some nice chilly nights, but then I wouldn't have quite as easy access and pretty soon it's going to start getting hot during the day.

WhiteRabbit · #5 05-04-2015, 12:11 AM

Very nice!

katrina · #6 05-04-2015, 09:24 AM

I bought mine early last year and it was just starting to bloom and from what I could find out about it I thought it would go to sleep when it was done. When it didn't I assumed it was off season and would then sleep in winter but it didn't do that either. I don't know if I could've done anything more to force dormancy or not. I didn't want to withhold all water but it got very little water...like my cacti and it still continued to be green. It even sent up another spike in Dec/Jan sometime. ??

After the spike I thought it might drop it's leaves but nope...it lost some but not all of them. And now it's starting to send up new growths again.

So, basically, I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm just taking the lead of the plant but the plant isn't doing a very good job of leading me. I hope I don't end up killing it.

I don't know that how I'm growing it will be of any help BUT...I grew it outside last year and under lights in the winter. It grows next to my succulents and cacti so it's watered only when dry and it gets fairly decent light in the winter and better light but not full sun in the summer. I think it might be able to take full sun though because I've read where people grow these in their landscape in the SW. I have it in a shallow clay "bowl" w/a cacti/succulent mix.

BTW - the flower smell reminds me of butter cream icing. YUM!

RosieC · #7 05-07-2015, 09:03 AM

Wow, what cool leaves!

Tindomul · #8 05-07-2015, 11:59 AM

Wow, thats soo cool! THanks for posting.

estación seca · #9 08-04-2015, 03:15 AM

There are lots of Albuca species. Yours might not be what is usually sold as A. spiralis; it doesn't have a scent and the leaves are quite flattened, not cylindrical. In addition to the more numerous winter-growers, there are evergreen Albucas, which sounds more like your plant.

I've always wondered how people grow them in really cold-winter climates. Here they wake up when nights cool down. I can leave them outside in full winter sun. They aren't bothered by occasional night frosts to the mid teens. In the spring when it starts getting warm they go dormant. I put the containers in a cardboard box and store them in a closet until the next fall. Storing them in high humidity is supposedly somewhat risky; inside an air-conditioned house is usually not that humid.

MrHappyRotter · #10 08-23-2015, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by estación seca

There are lots of Albuca species. Yours might not be what is usually sold as A. spiralis; it doesn't have a scent and the leaves are quite flattened, not cylindrical. In addition to the more numerous winter-growers, there are evergreen Albucas, which sounds more like your plant.

Any ideas what species / hybrid it could be, if it's not spiralis?

It may be because I've grown it too moist, but a few/couple weeks ago, it started sending up new leaves, and then within the past week, all the old leaves started dying off. I decided to repot it yesterday, roots looked good and healthy. So, I'm guessing this is one that doesn't go fully dormant.