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hardy  Aroids)" <ARISAEMA-L at NIC.SURFNET.NL>
From: Ernie O'Byrne <nargsbs at EFN.ORG>
Subject: Re: Proper Winter Care/rotting
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We have grown potatoes and stored them for 25 years. I can offer the
observation that washed potato (or is that potatoe? ;-)) tubers rot much
more easily than do unwashed. We never wash potatoes for storage until
ready for use in the kitchen.

Ernie

Oleg Vasiliev wrote:

> I agree with Jim - arisaemas should stay dry during the winter
> other wise they will rotted. I try to keep my plants dry even
> during summer and autumn, when we have a lot of raining.
>
> A few more suggestions how to reduce rotting:
>
> Last year I grow arisaemas as potatoes: sow them in the spring
> at 20-25 cm deep (8' - 10') and when shoot grow 10cm (4') under
> soil level I use a hoe to scrape the soil into a mound over the
> arisaemas. I find this approach is very helpful in case of raining,
> when excess of water will run to hole and base of inflorescent
> (most sensitive part) stay dry. This is one way how to reduce
> rotting.
>
> Another good advice is to grow arisaemas in a fresh soil (bring
> from forest) or heat (chemical) deactivated soil. Even 5-6 years
> old compost or mature increase rotting.
>
> And one more idea. Probably most folks store arisaemas in
> the refrigerator during winter. Do you wash tubers well in water?
> I did that many years before, but stop washing this year.
> Yes, I agree washing remove most spores from the suffers of
> tubers - this is good for storage, but I suspect that water remove
> compounds required for protection tuber too. Washed tubers
> need some time to restore protection when they planted in the
> spring and have more chances to rot then not washed.
> I have only preliminary date about this matter. Next year I am
> going to test anti bacteriological properties of water-soluble
> compounds extracted from tubers suffer.
>
> It's interesting to know any other way to reduce rotting.
>
> Oleg
> ----------------------------------------------------
>  Garden location:
>  1,5 meters under snow,  west part of Moscow region,
>  Zone: colder then zone 4 but warmer then zone 1

--
Ernie O'Byrne
Northwest Garden Nursery
86813 Central Road
Eugene, OR 97402-9284
USA
Eugene, Oregon is officially USDA Zone 8a, but we can generally grow
only Zone 7 plants.
Member of NARGS, AGS, SRGC, HPS, Meconopsis Group