New House, New Gardens

[Craig Stubbs]

Jim,My Goodness ,stay away from your e mail for two days and you
miss all the action!As you know,I moved house and will be starting all over
in my garden this spring.It will be a real advantage to have the benefit of
the Raised Bed /Sandwich technique since I am starting from scratch
AND..have lots of leaves.I look forward to studying ,then installing this
technique when my ground here thaws next month..I hope!
Although my experience with Arisaema is recent and most of my
knowledge gained from Ray,Jim et al,I have started to use a corm de
vernalizing technique that works extremely well for advancing corm growth in
mail order corms acquired through the winter.
Because I garden in Ontario, just outside of Toronto any winter purchases
have to be stored longer than most of the AEG group.For two years now I have
stored these acquisitions in straight chick grit rinsed with water when it
dries.The moisture level is very easy to monitor,by sight,and the grit both
allows for ample air,and inhibits fungal growth.This fall for harvested
corms,and through the winter for new purchases, I have used this storage
technique and have had no losses,none.I have about 125 corms at various ages
stored this way, in the fridge at 40F.Most were harvested from the garden I
left behind. The corms purchased in late January were stored this way,then
raised to 50F and stared growing in ten days.Perhaps this information will
be of use to those of you gardening in colder climates who lift more tender
species in late fall as I do.
Regards Craig
"Always allow for the changes time will bring"