Tropaeolum speciosum

[Maren]

Hi,
I've just taken delivery of 5 of the above, which arrived as 5 lengths of root with no visible growth points attached. Is that how they come or have I been had?

I have laid the roots horizontally on a moderately acid and moist compost and covered them with 1 inch of the same. It's not too late to change things. Any advice please?

[Maggi Young]

Yes, Maren, that's what they look like.  Decide where you want them to grow ( climb up) and plant them about 4 to 6 inches - sorry- 10 to 15 cms deep about 2 to 3 feet 60- 90cms AWAY  from the foot of the plant you'v'd like them to scramble up.

They don't care to be planted right at the foot of a plant (though in time some roots may colonise into such a situation)- to begin with it's better to plant further away from the eventual "support" to allow the roots to be in less competition with the support plant and to get plenty air and water as they begin to make above ground growth. 
This means, of course, that you must be careful not to weed off or hoe out the young growths as they emerge   

 A reasonable border soil will do for them  with a little extra leaf mould mixed in the planting hole for good luck and you should be weeding them out of every corner in a few years! 

[Maren]

Thanks Maggi. That's very useful. I have my doubts about the hoeing in future, this is my sixth attempt at coaxing Tropaeoleum into my garden, maybe they just don't like it here.

By the way, it is very thoughtful of you to translate imperial into decimal for me, but I can just about manage. Having lived in this beautiful country for 50 years, I'm catching up. Mind you, I do have some problems with Mr Fahrenheit. How can a man with such nice German name come up with such a weird scale? I realise I am on very thin ice here.

[Maggi Young]

Oh Maren, the change from inches to centimetres was for me.... I think in inches still.... and probably in pounds , shillings and pence too.... I was trying to "modernise" my poor old self! 

[Hoy]

Thanks Maggi. That's very useful. I have my doubts about the hoeing in future, this is my sixth attempt at coaxing Tropaeoleum into my garden, maybe they just don't like it here.

By the way, it is very thoughtful of you to translate imperial into decimal for me, but I can just about manage. Having lived in this beautiful country for 50 years, I'm catching up. Mind you, I do have some problems with Mr Fahrenheit. How can a man with such nice German name come up with such a weird scale? I realise I am on very thin ice here.

Maren, you can make your own scale if you like, no law against that You need only decide two fixed points and divide the scale as you like! (Question is, does anybody else like it )
Mr Celsius used boiling freezing water, the first called 0 (yes!) and the latter 100. Later he changed it to 0 at the freezing and 100 at the boiling point (much better that way).
Mr Fahrenheit used brine (ice, water and NH₄Cl) = 0, the freezing point of water =32, and a horse's body temperature (he actually used three points) = 100.

So, now the time is ripe for Helen's scale!

PS. I tried several times to establish T speciosum in my garden but it never grew where I planted it. One day it popped up a place I never had planted it and there it has stayed since

[Maren]

Hi,

I am happy to go along with Mr Celsius. As for the horse, I ride it every Sunday. 

Who is Helen??

[Hoy]

Hi,

I am happy to go along with Mr Celsius. As for the horse, I ride it every Sunday. 

Who is Helen??

I have no idea! She just appeared in the sentence without me noticing it. She must be lurking somewhere in the undermind

[Lesley Cox]

I found that roots of T. speciosum didn't want to be here at all. Tried a few times, including fresh roots from the native bush near Dave Toole's place. While speciosum was dying, ciliatum was taking over at a great rate. It has similar roots. I now have a small speciosum grown from Susan More's seed. It has colonised her garden to a great height. If I plant it out it will probably die.

[Brian Ellis]

Maren I had difficulty establishing it in 'dry' Norfolk, until I was advised to cover the root with a tile/brick and keep it moist until established.  There were dreaded warnings from members of the forum that before long it would be everywhere.  So far so good, behaving respectably after two years and has gone through these bad winters without a problem (famous last words?).

[Maren]

Well, there's hope yet. the brick is interesting, a bit like you do for clematis. I fear that if I put a brick on top of the pot (well, it would be a half brick to fit inside the rim), it might fall over more often than is good for it.

[Paul T]

Oh Maren, the change from inches to centimetres was for me.... I think in inches still.... and probably in pounds , shillings and pence too.... I was trying to "modernise" my poor old self! 

Maggi, Maren et al,

I've just created a topic that has some site links in it to easy conversion programs to work out differences in length, temperature and currency.  These might be useful if anyone needs them in the future?

it's here ==>  http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6779.0

Hopefully others can add to it if other links are needed for other conversions etc.

I hope it is useful. 

[Brian Ellis]

Well, there's hope yet. the brick is interesting, a bit like you do for clematis. I fear that if I put a brick on top of the pot (well, it would be a half brick to fit inside the rim), it might fall over more often than is good for it.

Think laterally Maren - small bit of broken pot until it establishes?

[Maren]

Thanks Brian, I have lots of those.

[Maggi Young]

Better to get it planted in the open ground than a pot, Maren.



 And thanks, Paul, for the conversion page initiative.