I don't know who may be interested, but here is what I've done.
1. Good soil. I've got bed 1,2,and 3.
#1 is a foot of Royal Soil (basically pure, totally finished compost of horse manure and straw from a local compost farm) that been in place five years under weed cloth and hardwood mulch with only petunias and bachelor buttons.
#2 will be a new bed of Royal Soil
#3 is my new bed, the only one planted so far. 4 x 8 feet of double dug old basement excavation dirt. I ammended with four bags of Organic Valley mushroom compost, superior produst IMO, because no sawdust or sand is visible. And one bag of cow manure compost with plenty of sawdust and sand.
Bareroot plants were stripped of all thinner outer leaves, some were also nipped to 1/2 inch. All roots were trimmed. All were soaked submerged and weighted for 12 hours in a fresh 10% bleach solution. They were all rinsed, and soaked another 12 hours in Superthrive 1/4 teaspoon per gallon, again fresh for each batch. Since I was still sweating and cursing and getting blisters in nasty bed #3, they were all healed in, in a big tub of straight OV mushroom compost inside the house. I figured they could get in touch with healthy beneficials. They were all watered to moistness but never sopping.
I was slow, and in a few days most showed new growth in the tub. They've all been carefully and gently planted with concern for the delicate roots which may have formed. They were well and frequently watered in July by me and by the rains.
Right now most have continued new growth. There's none on Laughing Skies which was the last planted after the total strip and to the crown nip. It's got a 1/4 inch of compost over the crown and I'm thinking it will rot if anything does. Some had separated off eeny baby new shoots in infant fans. I planted them separately and they have a couple inched of new growth. They all floated free of parent plants in the soaking process and I've labeled them "Figure It Out." Two were seedling sized things that separated from small fans, and they've not shown regrowth as there just wasn't much root to support them.
Edged in Pink was not trimmed....I just wussed out. It came in two days in moist newspaper from a rust free Tennessee garden. I just couldn't do it! It was so perfect looking and totally green like it had just been lifted. It got soaked though, and I was surprised it didn't bother it. A week in the ground it is drooping a bit, and I realize it should have been trimmed for it's own good.
Fabulous Fringes had a scape with a proliferation. I left that plant pretty intact and in two weeks in the ground have new growth and the proliferation is all green again after it's bleaching and has gotten lots bigger. You could knock me over with a feather.
I have new batches now, that have been stripped and soaked and are in the hospital tub of compost until I see some evidence of new growth. Today, I make up a new hospital tub for new batches.
I don't know if the growth is sustainable, or stimulated somehow by the superthrive. I don't know if these tiny things will be able to make through the winter. Some may still rot, as they were all plopped out in full July sun and got only a few days of break from being soaked.
I'll keep my eyes open for rust and keep you posted. I must get a camera and figure out how to take pictures.
shapiro
petalpatsyOriginal Author
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