Am.dormancy

From: Kevin & Ali <n9730000 at cc.wwu.edu> on 1998.10.05 at 13:10:32(2653) Hello! I live in Bellingham, Wash. and its beginning to get cold. I have many Amorphophallus konjac and A.bulbifer outside in 5 gal. pots. Some have sprouted (from tubers) as recently as 1 month ago. I do not have the space indoors and would like to force them into dormancy. Would it be better to let the cold send them into submission or to let them go dry? (Cold being no lower than 25 deg.F) Thanks alot! Kevin +More n9730000@cc.wwu.edu

From: Don Burns <burns at mobot.org> on 1998.10.05 at 13:55:57(2654) > Would it be better to let the cold send them into submission or to let > them go dry? (Cold being no lower than 25 deg.F) Kevin, Your konjacs are still awake most likely because they have not developed mature tubers. My vote is to keep them warm and awake to assure that tuber growth has taken place. Once tubers have grown they probably will go dormant on their own. Without tubers you will have no konjacs next year! Don +More Don Burns Plantation, FL USA Zone 10b

From: Michael Marcotrigiano <marcotrigiano at pssci.umass.edu> on 1998.10.05 at 15:57:14(2655) In my experience Amorphophallus konjac behave like a corm, rather than the tuber everyone else says it is. The corm gets smaller as the leaf emerges and at some point it is near gone, to be replaced by a corm above it that will be bigger each year under good culture. If your plants are just getting going I don't know if you are risking the corm letting them dry. You might want to dig one up and see if it has shruken down much. You may be going back in size by letting it go dormant now. Your alternatives are not great since 25F may be lethal and if not, is not going to support any growth at all. Too bad you don't have indoor space or a greenhouse. Next time you get corms try start them early (indoors?) and get the longest seasono of growth out of them. I have a 10yr old konjac that peaked this year with a leaf 41/2 feet tall, 5 feet wide, and a base petiole diameter of 4 1/2 inches. It came from a one inch corm and has increased in size each year, flowering the past 4 years. +More At 08:14 AM 10/5/98 -0500, you wrote: >Hello! > I live in Bellingham, Wash. and its beginning to get cold. I have >many Amorphophallus konjac and A.bulbifer outside in 5 gal. pots. Some >have sprouted (from tubers) as recently as 1 month ago. I do not have >the space indoors and would like to force them into dormancy. Would it >be better to let the cold send them into submission or to let them go >dry? (Cold being no lower than 25 deg.F) >Thanks alot! >Kevin >n9730000@cc.wwu.edu > > > > ************************************************************* Michael Marcotrigiano (email: marcotrigiano@pssci.umass.edu) Professor Rm 211 French Hall Dept. of Plant and Soil Sciences Univ of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003-4210 USA ------------------------------------ voice: 413-545-5227 fax: 413-545-3075

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