tuber dormancy requirements

[McClements, Jim]

Erik et al

The so-called "conventional wisdom" that I referred to in an earlier posting
on this subject is certainly tempered by the fact that very few people, at
least in the US, have been growing arisaemas as garden plants earlier than in
this decade. Those who did (e.g. John Wurdack, Judy Glattstein) were probably
growing most of them in the ground outside, in a temperate zone, and not
digging and storing the tubers in the winter.

Add to that the fact that the species that we grow, both from here or from
Asia, are in the wild subjected to some degree of winter chilling. I doubt
that anyone has ever seriously tried to store dormant arisaemas at room
temperature, to see what happens.

Erik may have really come across something here. I hope that several of us
will experiment this winter and see what we can demonstrate with different
species. I don't think I'll dig any palnts out of the garden, but I've got
lots of pots of younger plants to try this on. If you do experiment, run
controls, or it won't mean as much.

Jim McClements