> Hello Anita, > > Your difficulty with disappearing Arisaema sikokianum seems quite > amazing. Myself I have never managed to grow it beyond seedling stage > and have given up on it. The growing conditions you describe sound > perfect, I imagine the soil you prepared this way as a deep rich loose > and humusy soil. Is there nobody out there who has seen this plant in > the wild? Does it not want that kind of soil? > I looked it up in my Arisaema book by Gusman: They describe it as > easily grown but short lived (!) and recommend a raised bed with ample > drainage and a soil of sandy peat accompanied by small rhododendrons. > Otherwise they state the tubers will rot from winter wet. (I do not > know where they garden) That sounds to be the most likely explanation > of your problem. > What also strikes me is the fact that you are very successful with it > in pots. So why don't you grow it on in pots to flowering size? > All of my Arisaemas are potted. A. candidissimum and A. fargesii are > also growing in the open garden. But when it comes to pamper small > offsets to flowering size pot culture is far better than open garden > culture. This experience was confirmed by a friend who runs a small > bulb nursery. Both of us cannot explain this. > There is of course a certain inconvenience in pot culture. But don't > we all do a lot for our treasures? > For substrate in my pots I use my own garden compost from the compost > pile with some general fertilizer added. All my pots are attached to > an automatic watering system in summer so that they never dry out. > Excellent results with A. tortuosum and different forms of A. > consanguineum beside the two mentioned above. They are repotted every > year into fresh compost. The dormant tubers are stored totally dry in > their pots in their compost in my cellar. > I would not bare root them now because you said they have already > broken dormancy, this would cause considerable if not fatal root > disturbance. > > Hope that helps > > Uli > >