Re: CULT: what to do with unplanted rhizomes?

From: HIPSource@aol.com

In a message dated 98-10-25 11:43:14 EST, you write:

<< I got the digging and dividing done, but I never got the rhizomes
replanted, or the new ones in the ground.  Kept waiting for the usual cool-
down and ground-softening rains of September, and this year they never
happened.  Now that I've finally gotten the beds ready, it's too late to
plant. >>

Whereas some will surely make it if you were just to plant them now, you may
wish to give them some added attention to ensure this. I urge you to do this
for the rarer and more tender of your plants.

This is what I would do. First, I would groom them and remove all dead foliage
and roots. Don't worry about bleaching them. Bleach is a dessicant, I find.
Write their names on the rhizomes themselves with a Sharpie. Then soak them
overnight--no more--in a bucket of water to which Miracle-gro or Peters in
some normal formula has been added. Then I  would pot them up in a superior
very friable mix like Pro-Grow Planting Mix. Nothing that packs down, gets
clammy or stays gunky. I would use generous sized pots with a good root run.
After potting I would set them in the brightest sun I could find, preferably
with a paved surface beneath. The temperatures for the next week in Central
Virginia are forcast to be above seventy with no freezes! You should see them
spring into life. I did this last week with a rhizome which was dug in May
tfor heaven's sake that had rolled under something and was just rediscovered.
It is sending out foliage now. Water them on alternate days with a weak
fertilizer solution. Watch the nitrogen number. Note that your medium must
drain very well to accept such watering.

If you can keep them warm enough and sunny enough you may very well get enough
root development on them to set them into the prepared bed in a couple of
weeks or so. If you do this you will want to cover them with some Christmas
tree boughs after the holiday. If planting is not feasible, sometime in
December you must consider pot protection. 

You can hold them over the winter in a gerry-rigged hoop mini cold frame(s). I
built mine of PVC pipe, hog wire and 6ml plastic. I also put a double layer of
remay cloth over the wire and beneath the first layer of plastic in which I
cut a hole for ventilation. On sunny days the top layer of plastic can be
pulled back to expose the hole. Anyway, on the ground place either a double
layer of mulch or (better) some sheets of styrofoam used for insulation. Get
these at Lowe's. They are cheap. Set the pots on this when the severe weather
looks to be starting and set the little hoop frame over all. Bring the plastic
down and lay boards on it to seal the edges. You can manage this little frame
very easily through the fluctuations of a Virginia winter, adding insulating
materials to the top as necessary and covering again with plastic. I had
someone give me a very dessicated start of a very rare iris at Thanksgiving
one year and I outit into my little frame and it bloomed at normal height the
following spring, far better than it's mom in the donor's garden, I might add
smugly. If all this seems unutterably tedious you can do the bit with the
several hay bales and old window to effect a cold frame. And if everything
else fails, you can nestle the pots in a protected location at the base of a
large evergreen tree so the tree can keep them warm. You will need to put some
remay or burlap over them in this case to break the force of the rain drips
from the branches which can bore holes in the dirt in your pots. I hold things
under the big magnolia routinely and rarely loose a thing. 

Keep the faith! The weather is lovely now here and you must bustle to save
your plants, but they will more than meet you half way!  

Anner Whitehead, Richmond, VA--about a hundred miles east of Lexington in Z7
HIPSource@aol.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help support ONElist, while generating interest in your product or
service. ONElist has a variety of advertising packages. Visit
http://www.onelist.com/advert.html for more information.
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index