Thanks, Enid

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at msn.com> on 2004.12.30 at 10:52:50(12515) >From: "Enid" <enigo@bellsouth.net> >Reply-To: Discussion of aroids <aroid-l@gizmoworks.com> >To: <aroid-l@gizmoworks.com> >Subject: [Aroid-l] All hail the all mighty Julius!! >Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 22:29:02 -0500 Dear Enid and Friends, (BLUSH, BLUSH!!!) Well thank you, thank you very much for the kind words! I am just so happy that my idea worked so very well for you, Enid I was truly amazed to see how beautiful Enid`s aquatic plants are doing using her system, blooms everywhere, no leaf-tip fertilizer burn, no sign of cold-weather leaf diamage, etc.!!! This idea first was conceived back when I had noticed that when that the roots of my aquatics (which grew out of the drain-holes in their pots into the saucers of water) all LOVED it when the temps. of summer hit, but all died back and the plant then declined in the cool of winter. The warm water was an obvious solution to this problem, I just could never afford it! The only problem for you, Enid, will be of space when these still immature plants in their 4" to 1 gal pots get BIG and require at least a 3 gal. pot! Concerning the mention of Cyrtosperma hybrids, this has been done way-back in Australia by my friend Arden Dearden (and I believe Al. Hay) The primary parent was C. cuspidispathum, several other species were crossed to this, and the hybrids are spectacular, I have three out at my friend Bob Olesen`s home. Hand-pollination is easy when you know how, Bob has produced two HUGE infructenses with lats of fruit nearing ripeness on our Lasimorpha senegalensis! (a big African aquatic, looks like Urospatha but with 'kind', bluntish glass-looking extrusions/spines on ridges along the petioles, it bears fantastic purple-with-yellow-striped spathes, (they smell like fruit! ) If there is interest, I might be able to talk him into selling some seed to you guys. Brian`s idea on injecting CO2 into Enid`s system may not have an effect, it works great on underwater aroids, as it is absorbed by the leaves, I don`t know if the roots would benifit as much. Concerning the blooms on C. merkusii, mine bloomed when it was about 12 ft. tall, but I have read somewhere that this species and C. johnstonii are both infertile, the thought was that C. merkusii (the HUGE form grown for food ) had somehow mutated over time to become so, and that since ALL C. johnstonii was grown from a single collection from Buka Island in the Soloman Island group WAY back when, it too had become infertile. BUT---I just saw recent photos of our hero Dr. Thomas Croat in the field with plants that sure looked like C. merkusii, many in bloom, this was at the recent conference in Kuching, Asia, none of the plants seemed over 6 ft. tall, (Hey Pete, are they fertile or is all reproduction in this population by vegetative means only????) To all you potential growers of aquatic aroids out there who want to succeed with these wonderful plants, I ONCE MORE refer you to an old 1993 artice in Aroideana Vol. 16, "Experiencing Urospathas", in it I tell how to grow these plants. I am TIRED of folks calling to say that their rare and EXPENSIVE plant has died, and when I ask if they have followed the method that I outlined, they reply---"Well, you see I had a better idea, so what I did was----" Folks---- please---- grow them MY way till you manage to produce enough seed to grow your own, THEN experiment with YOUR ideas and kill you OWN plants!! This group is too difficult to obtain for you to afford to loose any wild-collected stock due to bad growing conditions! Thanks again, Enid, for the kind words! By the way, aroid friends, I can not say enough on how impressed I was by Sam and Enid`s new home and plant set-up, in one year it will become one of the most impressive aroid collections in Florida, and I look forward to it being one of THE best in the USA in just a couple of years once it 'fills in'. Don`t miss it the next time you are in Florida!!! Enid can be contacted on-line at--- www.NSExotics.com< She and Sam have some wonderful plants available. Good Growing! Sincerely, Julius +More ;Well the infamous Julius Boos has done it again.. > >During this year's aroid show, Julius found out that I have quite the Cyrtosperma collection (addiction). He recommended I try heating the water they sit in during the winter since they are notoriously cold sensitive. For anyone who has grown them, 60 degrees is akin to a death sentence. This is normally the time of year I wrestle them back and forth inside the house on cool nights and wonder what made me love these needy aroids in the first place. These spiny beasts don't go inside without a fight, since a few are bigger than me. > >We built a large shallow tray about 6" deep. I put in an aquarium heater and a pump to circulate the water. The water temperature is set at 85 degrees. I also put a bit of Peters 20 20 20 in the water. (Why not?) Not only have I not had to bring them in yet this year, but I have new leaves and blooms on almost every single one. (Watch for some hybrids this year). They are growing better now in the winter than they usually do in the summer without heated water. We have been into the high 40's twice and 50's a few times with not even a scratch. All hail the mighty and all knowing Julius!! Enid >Natural Selections Exotics > >www.NSExotics.com > > >_______________________________________________ >Aroid-l mailing list >Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com >http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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