Alstromeria over wintering

Hi,

We have three first year plants in 15" pots which grew very well last year and we moved them into the frost free greenhouse to overwinter as its said pot ones can be a bit tender when young.

However they are still growing away with several large flowerbuds forming on each.

Would it be better to cut the buds off and / or move them into an unheated plastic covered mini greenhouse we have up against the house wall to try and slow them down a bit ?

 

I think I'd be inclined to let them flower in the greenhouse.
Are they the evergreen type or are they the hardier outdoor ones that usually get frosted.

I've always planted in the garden the hardy ones, so can't help regarding flowering now.

 

Hi @pete,

Sorry, but it was such a bad night, seems I cannot even get the name of the plant right !!!

It should be Alstroemeria !

Varieties Indian Summer, Summer Breeze and Summer Rose, all said be be hardy once established in the ground, bought as small rooted cutting offer last spring.
They did get almost as big as these pictures by late summer.

 

I've never grown them.

 

Neither had we until last year, though if you like the look of them well worth it, as they flower through the whole summer and more, though they may need a little support / staking as they can get top heavy.

 

I had my worktops replaced last year, in the kitchen and as a kind of thankyou for the business the company sent, via the post, a bunch of "dead" flowers.
The instructions said, place in water and they will revive, I thought it was a joke, but I stuck them in a vase of water.

In a few days these flowers all opened and they were Alstroemerias, they lasted about 3 weeks.
Quite amazing really when they looked dead on arrival.

 

Hi Ricky, let them flower under cover . When the leaves yellow, pull the whole stem out, don't cut them. Plant them out in the most well-drained, sunny spots you have once the worst frosts are over. They've got fleshy tubers which do best in sandy soil and will stand any amount of drought, but they hate wet soil.

 

Thanks for turning my first post into a load of rubbish.

 

Get away....it'll come in handy for some poor soul wanting to know what to do with his Agapanthus

 

Thanks all, will have to learn not to post on the forum after a bad nights sleep ! ready for bed now but better wait till later.

@noisette47 had read that you should pull the whole faded flower stem out carefully and that you can take rhizome cutting in the spring, though we were not keen to do this yet, letting it build up a bit more.
The other week we actually took a few stem tip cuttings from the smaller shoots coming up, they are in the propagator and seem ok, but is this a good method or could it cause stem rot to the mother plant ?

 

I don't know, Ricky, as never tried it, but I suppose the principle is to get rid of any material likely to lead to root rot. The only place I've managed to keep them is under a eucalyptus at the top of a slope with building rubble underneath, so that will give you an idea of the sort of drainage they need

 

Most hybrids appear to have desert species in their breeding, so avoiding rot is probably one of the biggest problems in this country.

 

@ricky101 I've never grown them either but my son has 4 or 5 in pots in his back garden. I think 3 are from previous years, 'Indian Summer' being one I particularly remember. As the last few winters have been pretty mild I have no idea if his 5 plants will have survived the terribly cold period at the beginning of December last year.