Amorphophallus paeonifolius HELP!!

From: Kirk Martin kwmartin at earthlink.net> on 1970.01.01 at 00:00:00(14587) Hi, I have a decent sized A. paeonifolius that I've grown all summer outdoors on my pool deck. It had a single leaf about 2.5 to 3 feet tall which was starting to form another leaf off the tuber. A skunk/raccoon? uprooted the bulb and damaged a leaf stalk where it attaches to the bulb. I noticed some brown mush on the stalk near some white powdery fungus a few days later. When I pulled on the leaf, it detached from the bulb and I noticed some small white worms (nematodes?). Anyway, I cleaned of the rotted tissue as best I could and doused it with liquid sulfur 6.4% sulfur from Safer. The new leaf is happily getting bigger and so far no further sign of rot and haven't seen any more worms. Should I cut off the new leaf too and soak the bulb in some nasty pesticide/fungicide? Any advice is appreciated. Kirk Martin +More Fitchburg, Mass. _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: Ronmchatton at aol.com on 2006.09.11 at 13:35:09(14589) Dear Kirk: I don't think I would at this time. You've probably handled it correctly at this point. Nematodes are semi-aquatic flat worms and most of them are extremely small. You typically see only the physical damage they create rather than the worms themselves. In addition, Am. paeoniifolius is remarkably resistant to nematode infections. It will grow like a weed in our nematode infested sand right along side Liriope that is obviously infected and still show no signs of infection. What you found were most likely the larvae of one of any number of insects that feed on decaying vegetation. Did you happen to notice if the decayed portion had a very bad odor. If the problem is bacterial rot, fungicides will have no effect and it will rapidly spread through the corm. The typical bacterial infections have a really bad odor (for instance, Erwinia infection smells rather like decaying fish). As a precaution against further damage to the corm, you can drench the potting medium with Subdue which is good for root rotting problems, dithiophanate methyl (found under a plethora of trade names and the easiest thing to do is read labels of active ingredients.....dithiophanate ethyl is another in the same family) or Daconil and observe the spot for further decay. Ron McHatton +More Central Florida Zone 9B _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

From: "D. Scott Taylor" staylor at brevardparks.com> on 2006.09.11 at 17:48:31(14591) I probably would not tinker with it further..let it grow and it will soon be dormant anyway, and then you can dig the tuber and care for it if needed.dstOn Sep 10, 2006, at 9:29 PM, Kirk Martin wrote:Hi,I have a decent sized A. paeonifolius that I've grown all summer outdoors on my pool deck.It had a single leaf about 2.5 to 3 feet tall which was starting to form another leaf off the tuber.A skunk/raccoon? uprooted the bulb and damaged a leaf stalk where it attaches to the bulb.I noticed some brown mush on the stalk near some white powdery fungus a few days later.When I pulled on the leaf, it detached from the bulb and I noticed some small white worms(nematodes?).Anyway, I cleaned of the rotted tissue as best I could and doused it with liquid sulfur 6.4% sulfur from Safer.The new leaf is happily getting bigger and so far no further sign of rot and haven't seen any more worms.Should I cut off the new leaf too and soak the bulb in some nasty pesticide/fungicide?Any advice is appreciated.Kirk MartinFitchburg, M +More ass._______________________________________________Aroid-l mailing listAroid-l@gizmoworks.comhttp://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l D. Scott Taylor, Ph.D. Central Region Land Manager Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program 5560 N. US 1 Melbourne, Florida 32940 V: 321.255.4466 FAX 321.255.4499 email: staylor@brevardparks.com www.eelbrevard.com _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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