Re: Declining vigor
- To: i*@rt66.com
- Subject: Re: Declining vigor
- From: A* R* <a*@austx.tandem.com>
- Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 14:11:03 -0600 (CST)
> inherent in the cultivar, or is it due to garden conditions? Some
> cultivars, as we all know, simply die or rot immediately, an indication that
> they do not like their new home. But why do some do well the firs year and
> then die or rot?
It's because the energy and bloom created in their beautiful Pacific
home arrives in Tennessee with the rhizome. It's the NEXT year that
it's got to try to build up energy reserves and form bloom for the
following season. That's why it's important not to remove foliage after
bloom so that the bulb/rhizome can make/store energy for next year
through photosynthesis.
This is why construction-killed trees take a while to die. The damage
is done, but it takes two-three-four years for the tree to completely
exhaust its root reserves. If the roots cannot store any new energy,
because they are missing, injured, compacted, asphyxiated, the tree will
then die at that point. It's very easy therefore for the builders to do
criminal damage to trees and not be blamed for it, because the time
lapse is so long.
--
Amy Moseley Rupp
amyr@austx.tandem.com, Austin, TX, zone 8b
*or* amyr@mpd.tandem.com
Jill O. *Trades, Mistress O. {}
