Re: CULT: strange storage
iris@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: CULT: strange storage
  • From: L* M* <l*@lock-net.com>
  • Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:30:54 -0500
At the risk of stirring a dead horse back to life by beating on it, I lost nearly all the rhizomes I ordered from a CA source year before last. Some of the increases survived, but nearly all the mother rhizomes froze and split. Sappy rhizome syndrome, an oft repeated 'myth'. As soon as they arrived, I thought uh oh, too much tender tissue in the huge, rapidly grown rhizomes. The kind of rhizomes that a lot of people really like, but don't usually produce spring bloom here and often don't live long past that first spring.
If I order from that source again (and I think I will), I think I may try the technique you found, Betty. I was thinking about bringing them indoors for the winter, but that can be really hard on big plants here. Or ordering as early as possible, then letting them dry out of the ground until fall.
But if they will bloom in spring after spending the winter in a cool airy place in paper bags with a little peat moss to keep them from drying out too much, I may try ordering for late arrival (Aug) and just keeping them in a cool place in bags till March. then pot them up and keep them under covers during the last late freezes here. 

Thanks for the idea, Betty.  ;-)

Linda Mann east TN USA zone 7

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index