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  Growing problems.
From: "Cooper, Susan L." SLCooper at scj.com> on 2002.09.06 at 19:34:23(9353)
Hi all,
I have been having some problems with a few plants this summer. I put in
raised beds and planted my Amorphophallus tubers out. My problem is some
plants have "rotted" right at the top of the soil, causing the plant to tip
over. The odd thing is, the rest of the plant and bulb looks fine.
Foliage looks great.
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From: ". ." iamwhatiam52 at hotmail.com> on 2002.09.07 at 03:16:39(9358)
Reply-To: aroid-l@lists.ncsu.edu
To: "AROID-L (E-mail)"
Subject: [aroid-l] Growing problems.
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2002 14:34:23 -0500

Hi all,
I have been having some problems with a few plants this summer. I put in
raised beds and planted my Amorphophallus tubers out. My problem is some
plants have "rotted" right at the top of the soil, causing the plant to tip
over. The odd thing is, the rest of the plant and bulb looks fine.
Foliage looks great.

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From: Paul Tyerman ptyerman at ozemail.com.au> on 2002.09.07 at 07:03:19(9360)
At 02:34 6/09/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>I have been having some problems with a few plants this summer. I put in
>raised beds and planted my Amorphophallus tubers out. My problem is some
>plants have "rotted" right at the top of the soil, causing the plant to tip
>over. The odd thing is, the rest of the plant and bulb looks fine.
>Foliage looks great.

Susan,

Has teh plant rotted, or has something munched around the stem at ground
level. This is just a guess, but I've heard of various types of cutworms
(that is what i have heard them called) that tend to munch around the base
of a stem of a desireable plant, effectively killing off everything above
the soil. Not knowing much on what specific insects do this (and of course
that could vary in your climate as well) I cannot suggest specific
culprits, but it might be worth investigating to see if there is evidence
of damage at the soil level, rather than it rotting from within. If damage
happened like that, anythign below the soil surface would be left perfectly
healthy, just as you describe.

It might be worth investigating. Hope this might give you a lead to work
from.

Cheers.

Paul Tyerman

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From: "Petra Schmidt" petra at plantdelights.com> on 2002.09.07 at 15:30:43(9362)
We sometimes see bacteria/fungus problems at this time of year with
Amorphophallus petiole rot...leaf mushes out quickly as well...sometimes the
spread is so fast down the tuber that there's nothing to do but get rid of
the whole plant. We've got some curious ponderings in regards to why some
plants/collections may be more inclined to show bacteria/fungal
problems...let me ask you this, Susan...do you smoke cigarettes?
Petra

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From: "Cooper, Susan L." SLCooper at scj.com> on 2002.09.09 at 13:22:31(9368)
My leaves do not mush out. It is only at the soil level. The petiole turns
a dark color and shrinks (this affects 1/8 inch to 1/2 inch at the most).
After the petiole topples the upper part can look normal for a few days.
I haven't smoked cigarettes (this year).
My boyfriend (a microbiologist) is going to check out the next one under the
scope and I'll keep you informed.

Susan

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