No Subject

[Jim McClements, Dover, DE z6]

In a message dated 10/5/01 4:21:42 PM, rgb2 at CORNELL.EDU writes:

<<         This is my chance to post another in the "Oh Dear, what do I
do?" series. For which see the Trillium L list, & posting on
tricyrtis. Some great & knowledgeable people there. In any case, A
friend who was going to give me some A. tubers now won't as he has an
infection with mites. I checked the tubers I already had stored in
somewhat of a panic, as I had a gorgeous silver & purple sikokianum
tucked into the refrigerator but it seems to be clean, so far as I
can tell. He says he can't find anything helpful about treating these
things & he has tried several treatments without success. Again,
according to him, they are the main cause of rot in A's. I have lost
some plants in the past to rot & am now concerned that my garden has
been infected. I replanted tubers near a place where I had previously
lost some big sikokianum x takaedae to rot.
I would appreciate any information on this....what to do with
stored tubers, how to treat whether it's OK to plant in the garden
near where old ones have been lost, etc.etc. Or, is this all
nonsense????
>>

Robin

I'd agree with Ray that the primary cause of arisaema rot is wet, anaerobic
conditions, not any specific organism. I must admit that the idea of it being
caused by a mite, or any other member of the animal kingdom, is a bit
intriguing, but still highly unlikely.

I hope that  anyone on the list who has even heard of this possibility will
speak up.

Doubtless, there are fungi involved when rot occurs, but my assumption is
that these are facultative, not pathogenic, organisms.

Jim McClements