December 2009 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Maggi Young]

Bill's A. candidissimum pix are a sorry reminder to me of the failure of our plands this year.    I have a nasty feeling the poor things drowned over the last couple of years, when we had more summer wet than they ( or I  ) would like 

[Lesley Cox]

Ross, I've had A candidissimum come through as late as late January in a really dry year. They stll survive and flower though perhaps not as well. Water is very scarce here.

Bill I may hit you for a little seed as well as like everyone it seems I have just the one, non seeding clone of candidissimum. I don't have either fargesii or franchetianum at all.

[Lesley Cox]

A. ringens is the most commonly grown species in New Zealand, its flowers curl up so that only the purple-brown and white outsides can be seen.

Oh dear, is it? That's another I don't have. I had a tuber for a couple of years then it didn't come up again so goodbye, ringens. I have most of AA consanguineum, ciliatum, taiwanense and nepenthoides.

[galahad]

Arisaema consanguineum.  Most of the clump have the stripes showing on part of the leaves

[Paul T]

I think that particular strain (with the leaves showing the markings) was shown somewhere else on here recently.  I'd never seen it before.  Quite fascinating.

[Tecophilaea King]

Bill's A. candidissimum pix are a sorry reminder to me of the failure of our plands this year.   I have a nasty feeling the poor things drowned over the last couple of years, when we had more summer wet than they ( or I   ) would like  

Maggi, such are the vagaries and unpredictabilities of the weather from season to season, disappointing to lose these beautiful A.cadidissimum corms, but we all have to deal with these losses at times.
What a pity, I could have supplied you with plenty of marble sized cormlets of A.candidissimum, I had about 200 to spare which I planted 2-3 weeks ago. Perhaps next time.
BTW: just for the record, what are the biosecurity Rules and Regulations for just sending a few bulbs, properly prepared to the UK Maggi?       
Do these R & R differ for other countries?
Perhaps some members from the US, Canada, Australia and some members of the European countries could give us their version of what is required.
What about the R & R for the seed?  Is this perhaps a new thread for discussion?
Thanks  Bill

[Maggi Young]

Bill, I think a thread for all the R&R of the various countries of the Forum would take up a lot of time and space!  There are so many rules and regulations, especially for food crop species, of course, and CITES plants.... one could spend all day every day just reading those for the UK's  component parts 

In a nutshell:
All plants (including bulbs, tubers, rhizomes and fungi) which are permitted to enter the UK/ European Union must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate at the time of import.

Seed, (apart from commercialfood crop seeds and some weed varieties) have access to entry without certification.

[Lesley Cox]

Ross, the leaf is gorgeous but I would include the spathe in A. ciliatum. Any thoughts? My first ciliatums came as seed of consanguineum.

[galahad]

I don't have a single thought left in my head today

[Tecophilaea King]

Bill, I think a thread for all the R&R of the various countries of the Forum would take up a lot of time and space!  There are so many rules and regulations, especially for food crop species, of course, and CITES plants.... one could spend all day every day just reading those for the UK's  component parts  

In a nutshell:
All plants (including bulbs, tubers, rhizomes and fungi) which are permitted to enter the UK/ European Union must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate at the time of import.

Seed, (apart from commercialfood crop seeds and some weed varieties) have access to entry without certification.

Thanks Maggi, I will stick to seeds for now, (phyto's and inspection fees are very expensive with our MAF in NZ)

[Tecophilaea King]

Bill I may hit you for a little seed as well as like everyone it seems I have just the one, non seeding clone of candidissimum. I don't have either fargesii or franchetianum at all.

Lesley, I think we could even manage a few corms next time, our Arisaema's usually produce plenty of kittens/cormlets.
Don't forget to remind me 

[Paul T]

Bill,

Are baby Arisaema tubers really called Kittens?   I'm assuming you're just joking?

[Tecophilaea King]

Arisaema ciliatum is another species flowering at the moment.

[Tecophilaea King]

Bill, Are baby Arisaema tubers really called Kittens?  I'm assuming you're just joking?

Paul, bulblets, cormlets, kittens: they're all small bulbs or corms produced on the base of the parent plant, below the ground.
I think the term kittens is mainly used with Gladioli growers in NZ when the corm produces thousands of kittens or cormlets.
Perhaps not suitable for the Arisaema corms.

[Paul T]

OK, but they technically would I think be tuberlets, as the vast majority (if not all of them) of Arisaemas are tubers, not corms or bulbs.  

In a lot of cases, I just think of them as "insurance".