Dactylorhiza worries...

[pontus]

Hello Everyone,

A few weeks ago i checked my dactylorhiza pots which had spent the winter outside under a house wall with only minimal protection. I was worried as no shoots where showing above ground...so i depotted to check...some tubers had half rotted or rotted...i imagine i should really have put the pots frost free after all... some had only 1 of the swelled roots rotten, while most shoots where intact. As they are rare, i did not throw any away. To my amazement, after repotting and a bit of extra care, 2 pots now have spiky green shoots coming up, but some of these must be trying to grow with most of their underground tuber vanished....what is happening here? will these be ok and reroot eventually somehow??

some lost the root tip at the edge of the root/tuber swelling, but seem to be regrowing anyway..

any advice on what i should do? sun or half shade? or a mix of both?

will they survive and regrow?

Pontus
Switzerland

[mark smyth]

last year I have a couple rot but the growing tip gew as normal. I'll look for the photos

[mark smyth]

Feel better now?

[Jonny_SE]

Hi Pontus.
I have a few times had the same problem with Dactylorhiza purpurea but they seems to cope pretty good after some time...The more common Dactylorhiza maculata seems to manage absolutely everything.....Jonny

[pontus]

ok, i am a bit relieved hehe..

Mark, your tubers look much better than mine....!

i will put them all in the ground this autumn, as i believe they will do better then, the only reason they where in pots was that i was planning of exhibiting them at a show in may...we will see if they will manage to flower this year...!

Pontus

[mark smyth]

Those were the new tubers that formed during the summer

[pontus]

ah ok, i see..

so there must be quite alot of growth strength, even in a "damaged" plant then..

[Maggi Young]

Pontus, if you read how Dactylorhiza can have the new tubers removed and the old stem replanted to grow another tuber, there is tremendous vigour and willingness to grow in these plants.

See more in the Bulb Logs -
from the index : http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/index.pdf
splitting 37/03 34/06 33/07 31/10
tubers 44/03 29/04 32/08 31/10

http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/bulblog.html for logs from 2003 to 2008
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=bulb for Logs 2009 to 2012

[pontus]

Hello Maggie,

thank you for the links. I had a look at them, and realise it was good that i did not throw any of my dactylorhizia "remains" away...

I will post a picture here if they do flower this year..

Pontus