Acidanthera

(Question)

Can I grow acidanthera indoors in a pot? Same question about ranunculi.

(Answer)

Hello:

Thanks for your question. Yes you can grow Acidanthera and Ranunculaceae in pots. They are both perennials in mild climates. In this case, perennial means only that you can leave the corms in the garden over winter and have them come up annually. Here in southern Ontario, we would need to dig them up or store the containers where they won’t freeze. This is particularly important for the Acidanthera as they are a tropical plant.  I have attached a couple of links about growing these 2 flowers in pots. These pots are outside on patios, decks etc. If you’re growing them inside as houseplants, the difficulty will be to give them enough sun. They both like full sun (> 6 hours direct sun per day) when outside. Without sufficient light, they will not bloom well and for the ranunculus, the colours may be a little faded. Another issue with ranunculus is that they like to grow in cool weather, around 13 deg C. They take about 90 days from planting to flowering, so you need to keep that in mind and their temperature needs when you plant them. They don’t like the heat of summer, however if they’re inside, the temperature will be moderate. Ranunculus grow to have a large rootballs, so they will need more space in the containers.

These links are both for commercial growers but I find the information to be very good. For interest, I have also added a Wikipedia link for Acidanthera. It’s in the gladiolus family and has undergone taxonomy changes and has had a number of scientific names and common names.

https://www.brecks.com/blog/growing-ranunculus

https://www.longfield-gardens.com/article/All-About-Acidanthera

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiolus_murielae