RE: A mystery solved

Terry Bertozzi (Bertozzi.Terry@statemail.ss.sa.gov.au)
Thu, 10 Mar 1994 22:28:00 +1030

> I presume juvenile plants have this low-growing pattern, with round,
> not shield-shaped leaves. There are quite a few plants in this pot,
> should I re-pot them? I know to let the pot become dry when the
> growth dies off, does that mean bone-dry, or just moist.. any other
> advice? I do not know what species they are. The ones that didn't go
> into dormancy are unevenly scattered on the surface of the peat as if
> they seeded into it. At the moment the tallest stalk is about 4
> inches hight with no branching.

This rosette around the base of the D. peltata plant has been the point of
some discussion of the years in the ACPS. I have some D. peltata which seem to
produce these rosettes every year. Last year I got some more plants appearing
in the same pot (obviously from auxillary tubers) and these did not have the
rosettes at the base of the plants.

> they seem to be developing at the bottom are they trying to tell me something)

Yes, they are. If you plant the tubers shallower than their optimum depth, then
they gradually make their way to the right depth. You may find if you use a
deeper pot, then they will go down even furthur. This seems like a great
adaptation to Australia's extremely dry summers. I believe D. gigantea (Have I
spelled this correctly?) tubers can be found up to 2m underground :-o. I wonder
what happens if they are planted too deep?

Cheers
Terry