I was given one corm. I wish I had more! I love trading plants but this is the only one I have. The only other aroid I have at the moment is a couple jack in the pulpits. The Dracunculus came with a planting guide that said to plant it in the garden and it will come up in the spring so I assumed it will stay dormant as long as it is kept chilled. I'd like it to produce seed so I am hoping it will wait till spring so flies and whatever else can pollinate it. So even while it's chilled it might start spiking? If it flowers and there are no pollinators around can it be hand pollinated? Thanks Joe

Well Bob, I don't think I can answer all your questions, but I'll tell you what I know. My experience has been with Florel. It has been successful in forcing most broms to bloom, but not all. I don't know how to categorize which ones didn't take, it just seems to be an individual thing. I haven't tried it on all genera, just because there are some things that either bloom readily enough on their own, or that I simply had no reason to want to force, for example Cryptanthus. The only Tillandsia I ever tried it on was 'Creation'. It worked fine, and I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work on others. The length of time it will take to see bloom depends on the growth rate of the individual species. Billbergias will bloom in a month or less, but Vrieseas can take up to 3 months or more to produce a spike. Tillandsias would probably be slow too. I does matter if there's a pup, but only because the pup will bloom too if you treat it, even if it's not mature. It doesn't matter if you are careful to apply the spray only to the mother plant, they'll still bloom because they are connected. I had some Vr. 'Elvira' that had pups so small I didn't even know they were there until spikes started emerging from the leaf axils. Of course the inflorescences produced from immature pups are likely to be comparatively small and stunted. The same is true if the mother plant is immature. It's best not to do it if the plant is too young, as it takes up a lot of energy for a plant to produce a flower, and you don't want to burn it out if it doesn't have sufficient foliage to support it. As far as harming the plant, you want to be careful not to use too high a concentration, or to do it in the sun, and be sure to wash it off after several hours, or you may burn the leaves. You can apply it in the late afternoon, leave it overnight, and then rinse the foliage off in the morning. There's a couple of ways to do it, at least with the liquid form. Dump out any water in the cup, dilute the Florel as directed, and then spray it on the foliage just to run-off, no more. I've also seen it poured directly into the cup, but I've never done it that way. You have to be careful handling the stuff too. It's caustic, and I believe it's carcinogenic. At the very least use rubber gloves, and just to be on the safe side goggles and a respirator would be good. And only mix up as much as you're going to use right away because it won't keep. I used to use a little 16 oz. hand sprayer and if memory serves I could do maybe 20 or 30 plants, depending on size. If you were doing it for commercial production you'd want to use a bigger sprayer of course, but I was just doing it to get varieties I wanted to cross to bloom at the same time. I haven't done it in several years now. I've heard that an inflorescence produced by this means doesn't last as long as one that blooms naturally, but I don't really know if that's true or not, as I was mostly working with Neos, where it wouldn't make a difference. Hope that answers at least some of your questions.

That's an interesting tip pjc3. I've got a little hard-to-root cutting that is just sitting there with a green terminal bud that won't break. I'm going to try spraying it as you suggest. Pasquale, I think you and herman pretty much covered it. Figs that aren't growing don't use water, and the roots can survive with very little moisture in the root ball. Different plants have different tolerances. Swamp plants can thrive in water-logged soils. Figs on the other hand suffer root damage. The good news is that figs are tough. Barring the possibility that loslunasfarms suggested - bad trees to start with - you have a good chance that yours will survive. It might be a good idea to do as he suggested and take cuttings. You'll have insurance plants and decrease the amount of wood the roots have to support. But getting the pot "dry" has a good chance of salvaging the plants. It might take months to see green - so don't get impatient with them. Good luck.

Thanks, and I searched for a Herb forum for this, didn't find one here. I'll look again. I'm not telling anyone to home cure anything, but it's amazing to me the benefits of the plants I'm growing and finding in the yard, plus finding research on the internet. I've had a lot of happy accidents this year. I'm looking to grow turmeric, if it grows where I'm at. I've tried a few things in the wrong climate already, not looking to start a plant this time of the year. I'm also going to try ginger, but near spring. My plants won't last through the winter. I've been nursing what I was hoping to be hyssop or bee balm, but got snakeroot instead. It's poisonous taken in large dosages, but still a good medicinal plant. I have books on the measurements of most of the plants I'm speaking of. Nutrition is half the battle, even if it's not a winning one towards illnesses. Not starting a debate, or get on someone's nerves, but being chatty, like I am, people take that wrong. I'll check the board out and see what they have.