Crinum mccoyi under attack

I am trying to figure out if my crinum is simply going dormant or if I have a fungal or insect problem.

I have quite a few crinum but this one is new to me. It came from a reputable dealer , potted with the roots in a professional mix and the entire bulb exposed. It has been happy and healthy for months.

I noticed today that several of the outer leaves were turning yellow. My other crinums aren't even close to going dormant yet so I thought there might be a problem. I checked the bulb, it “squished” in quite a bit. (not a wet sloppy squish, kind of a medium squish, like when you step on a toadstool.) I peeled off a few layers, as I kept peeling I found that the bulb underneath is not rotting but the layers came off with a nasty marshmallow-y feel and a spider-webby look. I'm getting ready to move some of the plants on my outdoor cart in and was concerned about possible insect or fungus affecting the other plants.

I dumped the pot out, washed the soil out, took off the gross layers to see if the bulb itself was intact. It is, but it STUNK to high heaven at first! Rotten fishy smell. I have NEVER noticed a bad smell coming from my crinum bulbs but most of mine are planted up to the shoulders in soil. This one is not. After I brought it down to healthy tissue I sprayed it lightly with rubbing alcohol, it was fine but when I checked it again there was still some smelly tissue outer tissue which I removed.

I'm going to dust for fungus and re-plant with a systemic in the mix, I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this with crinum?

This message was edited Dec 1, 2006 7:13 AM

I'm not familiar with C. mccoyii nor have I ever had a problem with Crinums rotting as you describe. And that's what it sounds like.

I've noticed that certain of my bulbs have a thicker coating of dried tunics than others that give it a soft mushy feeling, but you can feel the actual bulb's firmness under all the dried "skins." As my scabrums went dormant, I noticed this. I don't know if they lost some girth as they dried off that might have accentuated the scaliness of them, but they seem to have more scales on them. It might be just that they hang on longer than other kinds and since they are potted fairly high, there is less natural decomposition of the scale toward the top where I was feeling them.

The marshmallowy feel and the cobwebby "silks" are normal. The multiple dried layers give a soft feel and the fibers are normal for Crinums to have.

Anywho, the fishy smell seems to indicate that a bacterial infection might be in there. I think you did right by pulling and cleaning your bulbs and giving them a disinfecting wash. It might have just been some rot of the dried layers. If you didn't notice any wet, water-logged, darkish, translucent-looking outer leaf bases--the bulb itself might not have been under attack--just the tunics.

I would store it cool and dry till spring.

How did the roots look? Did they seem to be healthy?

Some of my Crinums began to yellow in response to shorter, cooler days and that is to be expected. Some are more tender than others. Some of mine stayed quite green, though a paler color and didn't seem to be going dormant, but as I had restricted moisture, they were resting without any further growth. I was looking at my x powelli bed, and I think that they have been growing lately due to the warm spell we've just had (sadly over now). They had been nipped back by frosts on the exposed foliage, but underneath the deep mulch, they are green.

Hope the problem is only a temporary one and is now under control.

Robert.

I had the tops of several of mine zapped by these latest freezes and they look just pitiful--worse than usual. I just planted them late October too. I brought in whatever this "mysterious Ismane" I have, fearing it could not take the frost. I hope I didn't hedge my bets on the wrong crinum being able to take the freeze.

How long have you had the bulb? Some of the granular organic slow release fertilizers I use smell like fish--so much so that the oppossums are attracted to them. =( They routinely dig up some of my Lycoris species--I have to try to walk the property daily looking for them. Luckily all Lycoris are pretty tough.

If its not rotten (the bulb that is--not the smell) maybe the grower also uses an organic fertilizer ?!?

Here a receipe you might try.

1 cup listerine
1 cup lemon-lime soda
1 cup tea

Combine above with one gallon water and spray. People have used it to rid rot and save Iris and Daylilie s and Cannas and Glads. Don't se e why it wouldn't maybe work on your bulbs. Might be worth a try.

Excellent idea starlight and thanks for sharing the recipe. =)

Robert- thank you for the support & info! All of my crinums have been active or mostly underground so I had never experienced the weird fibers in the outer layers.

I wrote to the grower, they said that the squishiness is the natural dormancy setting in. I haven't heard back yet about the smell. By the way, after the 2 treatments w/rubbing alcohol and a good drying out the smell is gone. The roots are in fantastic shape, so I repotted it today and will just let it go fully dormant.

It just hit me though that the underwater crinums I bought have a very similar icky fishy smell no matter what I do to keep them happy......and they are happy.....as long as I keep some extra oxygen in the water...

Startlight- thank you for the recipe! I'm sure it will come in handy. I learn so much on DG!

Deb- I'm pretty sure they don't use an organic, I have bought quite a few other items from them without the smell issue. It's a weird thing but I think the bulb is okay, if not originally then now. I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

I also need to remember the old saying, "It's an art, not a science"

:)