overwinter cyperus papyrus not alternifolia

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nicebutdim
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overwinter cyperus papyrus not alternifolia

Post by nicebutdim »

anyone had any luck doing this,the alternifolia is easy even in icy weather but papyrus is a different story.Tried it in heated water at about 60 tried it dry but very hit and miss
GREVILLE

Re: overwinter cyperus papyrus not alternifolia

Post by GREVILLE »

Bought a specimen of this that my wife fell in love with and was graciously granted permission to overwinter it in our bedroom. It had to alternate between here and the cold greenhouse to stop it becoming drawn and the tufts falling on the floor.

It survived this treatment but went into an inexplicable decline the following summer never to be overwintered again :(

I got a small one in October 2010, repotted it in a water-tight terracotta dish with some charcoal in the bottom to keep the water sweet and this overwintered at my boys' school where it decorated a display about ancient Egypt. It was kept in a sunny window in quite high temperatures and made very lanky growth that required staking. This, too, did not do well the following summer with it only keeping the drawn growth of the previous winter and no new growth until I put it in the greenhouse in the autumn. I have one four inch unopened shoot and five drawn tufts going into decline.

I'm clearly not doing something right. Something tells me that I might be better off cutting everything down in the autumn, keeping it cool and almost dry for the winter and restarting it damp with bottom heat in the spring.
Springy

Re: overwinter cyperus papyrus not alternifolia

Post by Springy »

I'm trying it for the first time this year with what I think is called Cyperus papyrus "nana"

Its sat in a shallow saucer in my outhouse which is kept frost free. I just give it a minimal amount of water just to keep it ticking over.
All is well with it so far so fingers crossed, it will survive the winter! It's one of the very few plants that my partner has purchased so I had better look after it! :(
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Yorkshire Kris
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Re: overwinter cyperus papyrus not alternifolia

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Good luck with this . Not an easy thing to keep alive over winter.
Very easy from seed though .
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AndyC
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Re: overwinter cyperus papyrus not alternifolia

Post by AndyC »

Not the easiest of plants to keep alive, I even managed to kill one at the Living Rainforest where conditions should be ideal :roll:
Andy
nicebutdim
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Re: overwinter cyperus papyrus not alternifolia

Post by nicebutdim »

Yorkshire Kris wrote:Good luck with this . Not an easy thing to keep alive over winter.
Very easy from seed though .
I have grown from seed but it takes a few years to reach any size certainly not in the next year or two.I met someone in South London who had kept this "grass" in his lean to ,let it die down and it came up from nothing for a few years running.It was in the ground and was dry,he had no idea what it was and certainly wasn't fussed over.
I tried to hack mine in pieces to save through the winter but it doesn't take kindly to being hacked in pieces ,even though it is a couch grass type of plant.The apparent success stories are aways of alternifolia which I have in a pond and survives through thick ice
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Yorkshire Kris
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Re: overwinter cyperus papyrus not alternifolia

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

Mine reached 6 foot within the year. I sowed in september and planted out in May.
nicebutdim
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Re: overwinter cyperus papyrus not alternifolia

Post by nicebutdim »

Yorkshire Kris wrote:Mine reached 6 foot within the year. I sowed in september and planted out in May.
Yours was definitely papyrus the thick stemmed one about 25mm dia ,the alternifolia
is very easy,simply turn upside down the decapitated head ,put it in water and roots form in a few weeks,but papyrus has always grown from seed but stayed quite small.
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Yorkshire Kris
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Re: overwinter cyperus papyrus not alternifolia

Post by Yorkshire Kris »

100% sure it was papyrus see photos 2/3rd way down this link here:

http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/forum/v ... 7&start=30
Ian Cooke

Re: overwinter cyperus papyrus not alternifolia

Post by Ian Cooke »

Never found it difficult. Used to grow it from our own seed and keep for two years. Overwintered in frost free but not warm greenhouse, pots stood in trays of water. Following pic shows one in my garden last summer, started from seed spring and given to me as a tiny plant March. Its a fast grower.
Own Garden Aug 11 004-qpr.jpg
Biggest trouble is when they get tall they become top heavy & blow over!
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