Re: [Aroid-l] A. hewetti and gigas dormancy requirements

**&* C* <c*@bellsouth.net>**

Hi Kirk.

I'm glad you've asked those questions, I've been kinda wondering too.

I received some hewettii seeds a few years ago and I'm pretty sure this will

be their third summer. The seeds germinated in the spring (March or April,

it seems like) and so far have flourished through the summer. As the nights

began to cool in October they yellowed and withered just like the others

considered hardy here in zn 8b. I knew they were tropical, so I figured

that was the end of them. But when I dumped out the pots I found fat little

dormant tubers! I kept them inside and dry-ish for the winter and they were

back up last spring. This past fall I intentionally left them outside again

and the same thing happened. After repotting them (again to check if they

were dead) they went into a friend's COOL greenhouse where they are kept on

the dry side because I'm terrified of rotting them and don't want to

encourage new growth until I can safely put them outside in another week or

two. As the nights begin to warm, good God willing, they'll be back up

again for the coming summer.

This has been my experience so far, but I have no idea if I'm actually

controlling dormancy or just rolling along with some adolescent natural

cycle. My hope in all of this is that I'll one day have huge happy plants

that enjoy my long humid summer but go dormant in the fall like

paeoniifolius for easy winter storage. I'm pretty sure this is called

"having your cake, and eating it too". I don't have a greenhouse of my own,

and don't really know where I'd put a big pot with a leaf the size of a

small tree - or how I'd get it there. I guess I'll worry about that

tomorrow.

Thoughts, anyone?

Russell Coker
Mobile, Alabama

----- Original Message -----

From: "Kirk Martin" <kwmartin@earthlink.net>

To: <aroid-l@gizmoworks.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 10:08 AM
Subject: [Aroid-l] A. hewetti and gigas dormancy requirements

I have an A. hewetti and gigas that I received as 8" seedlings. They have

grown to about 22-24"

In the last month the leaves on both have droopped and turned yellow so

I'm wondering if they are going dormant

or if they are giving up the ghost.

They currently are in 5 gallon pots each in a peat/perlite/vermiculite

2:1:1 media

Daytime temps are: 65-85F and nighttime are 50-65F in a southern facing

room.

When do they typically go dormant and how long does dormancy last (Any

Northern U.S. growers out there zone 6?)

I'm watering about every 10 days now keeping the soil barely damp so

hoping that is right. Does this plant typically lose it's entire leaves?

Any advice would be helpful.

Kirk Martin
Fitchburg Massachusetts

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