Sand

[Andy Y. S. Wong]

Dear Group,

The quality of drainage makes an enormous difference in year to year
survival in the garden here.  Even though our soil (decomposed sandstone
loam) drains very well, we still get the best survival on steep
hillsides and raised beds.  There are a few species, such as A.
heterophyllum, A.tortuosum, A. ringens, A. ternatipartitum, and A.
candidissimum, that don't seem to mind periodic wet feet, but in
general, the more drainage the better.  We think a good way to grow them
is in a pure coarse sand raised bed with a layer of rich soil about 5
inches below the top of the sand.  Jim McClements garden layer cakes
should be ideal too.
This is not too surprising when you see how many Asian arisaemas grow in
the wild.  Their corms are often in a layer of partly decomposed humus,
not in the underlying soil at all.

Allowing them to go somewhat dry in late summer helps a lot too.

We find this to be true for Japanese and Chinese native species.

Barry R. Yinger and Andy Wong
USDA Mid-zone 6
Lewisberry, PA

"George R Stilwell, Jr." wrote:
>
> David,
>
> I thought sand might help too, especially with the Chen Yi imports that
> rot so easily
> and A. sikokianum that dislikes wet conditions. But I used GraniGrit,
> starter grade (like
> many of us use for germinating seedlings) instead of sand. It's a bit
> coarser and drains
> more easily.
>
> Sorry about that, I could see no difference in the rot rate at all.
>
> Ray
> GRSJr at Juno.com
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
> Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
> Join Juno today!  For your FREE software, visit:
> http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.