Tubers rotten/Arisaema griffithii

[Tony Avent]

Paige:

Thanks for your reply.  This goes to show that some plants respond very
different in different growing conditions.  In our hot humid summers,
moisture is deadly for these types of arisaema.  I was under the
assumption that you are dry in the summer, when we typically have our
two highest rainfall months in July and August.  We garden in pure sand
in raised beds, now amended with compost, so I doubt that drainage is
the difference.  I certainly agree that heat, especially day/night temps
are one important factor.  Very interesting.

Tony Avent
Plant Delights Nursery @
Juniper Level Botanic Garden
9241 Sauls Road
Raleigh, North Carolina  27603  USA
Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F
Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F
USDA Hardiness Zone 7b
email tony at plantdelights.com
website  http://www.plantdelights.com
phone 919 772-4794
fax  919 772-4752
"I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent



Pacific Rim wrote:
> Tony, your experience with "Arisaema griffithii and related species"
> differs from mine. I am thinking also of speciosum, costatum, utile,
> galeatum (and indeed about quite a few species outside Section Arisaema).
>
> Here, in both garden and nursery beds, these plants do not require a
> dry dormancy. They are rained on for much of the year and watered
> regularly when the rain stops. The soil in the garden and the mix in
> the nursery beds is deep, rich in humus, and porous. The nursery beds
> face south and southeast; the garden beds are on slopes, usually over
> clay, and at least one bed faces each direction of the compass.
>
>> From the difference between Tony's experience and mine, it is plain
>> that the
> conditions these plants will tolerate are quite wide. I have to think
> that subtle, compensatory modulations of growing conditions make a
> difference. (Just as when tuning a radio: turn the volume up, then
> compensate by turning the bass down a tad.)
>
> I would think about temperatures -- how fast they rise and fall, and
> how far -- light versus shade, nutrition and especially drainage.
> Perhaps my beds drain more sharply than Tony's. Perhaps moisture on
> the tubers is not harmful, or less harmful, if the moisture is flowing
> rapidly and so more likely to be well oxygenated.
>
> Other ideas welcome!
>
> Paige Woodward
> paige at hillkeep.ca
> www.hillkeep.ca
>
> Tony Avent wrote:
>
>> We have found the key with A. griffithii and related species is to
>> store them in dry peat in plastic-lined open top cardboard boxes,
>> stored in an area that stays just above freezing.  If there is any
>> damage to the growing tip in shipment, they will rot.  We have had
>> these flower well in the ground, but only provided they are planted
>> where the soil stays dry once they have gone dormant.  In pots, they
>> will sprout and flower in a small container, but they will not last
>> long.  If you want to keep it in a container, I would not recommend
>> anything less than a 3qt pot, with a well-draining soilless mix. I
>> hope this helps.
>
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